Coward
by BakaOna
Summary: Jay, one of the sea's best kept secrets, comes into the spot light after years of hiding thanks to a crazy old man. Her goal is to steal the One Piece, but what happens when she finds herself shackled and about to be sold to nobles and pirates alike? The worlds greatest thief must choose between love and adventure. If lucky maybe she can steal both? (Currently being re-written)
1. Enter Jay

Short silver hair bounced around red frozen tips of the young girl's ears. Her monochromatic eyes duly scanned the calm sea from the salty beach where she currently sat. Soft caresses of wind on the bare parts of her body lulled her mind into a sedated state like the salty waters before her were a seasoned hunter and she was on the other side of a tranquilizer gun. The usual cold gray fog settled behind her as a sleeping sun began to awake on the horizon. She perched on the edge of sanity where the white sand met the thinning waves of the ocean thinking of the past; it was all too comparable to her mental state these last few slow moving years. One step forward to soundlessly slip into the endless abyss of paralysing ocean alone; no one would have to know besides her and the deadly waters which seemed to foam at the mouth in an ever hungry reach for her sand encrusted toes. As her tousled hair sailed tenderly in an early morning chill she knew better than to walk towards the awaiting beast's open jaws. In no time flat the enraged sea would tear her limbs apart and question her right to breath. It wasn't the physical salt rubbed pain that attracted her straying attention, but the overwhelming need to atone for the guilt inducing sins that plagued her mind from the very moment she could form a coherent thought. Smiling faces hiding in the back of her mind whispered cherry sweet words to break her from the ocean's strangling hold; telling her she just needed to get through this stretching lonesome day once more.

With a slight shift of hand she pulled a dark tinted glass bottle of Black Cherry Rum from the tan leather satchel strapped to her side; it had always been her captain's favorite. With a snap the booze cap twisted open and she greedily chugged the bitter contents; making a sour face as the burn turned down her throat. How anyone drank this scorching liquid straight she wasn't sure; but it quelled the bright grins in her head as well as the insistent taunting from the harsh sea before her quickly. She didn't want the guilt, nor the comfort her thoughts produced. On days like this it was best to be alone wallowing deep in quelled thoughts. After a deep drag of needed oxygen she poured the rest into the extended ravenous mouth of the ocean; finding herself lost in heavy sounds of the beast consuming the beverage. It wasn't her crime ridden blood, but this last coveted gift from her father did nicely to silence the wave's thriving gluttony.

Seven years didn't seem long enough for her grief to subside pertaining to her late captain's death. Still life pictures of the man cornered against the red brick alley walls, hands raised in absolute surrender, and then promptly fired upon with a shouting marine's final order burned in her memory almost everyday. The girl wanted to forget; she really did. The worst part was she knew she could have saved him, but another crew member held her back from jumping down from the tiled roof they had been standing upon. The lanky roof her father had hoisted her up to as they ran from the murderous glares of the island guards held her up safely, yet simultaneously pinned a loving man away from his young daughter. They were chasing them because of something she stole; there was no way her kind father's death wasn't because of her. She knew this almost as well as she knew the man never once would have blamed her. It shown through the small cracks of chaotic memories as a small light illuminating his last toothy grin directed towards her as his hands slowly rose in submission to the men standing ready to kill before him. No matter how frosted the breeze was on these cool island mornings knowing that her father loved the way it felt when he was alive and laughing filled her with warmth as bare skin turned red in protest.

For a while she venomously blamed the crewmember who didn't loosen his grip, but in reality it wasn't his fault and she knew that. He like many others of the Reki Pirates were just following orders. More specifically the cardinal law applied to the young silver haired girl who had just enjoyed her twelfth birthday with gleeful celebration: "Do not allow her into battle under any circumstance, be it life or death, until she grows and becomes stronger! We don't want her to fall into the hands of our enemies!" These words of her late captain were heard loud and clear like a continual ring in her ears day after day and pushed her through life even after his death; they are the sole reason she has come so far from that wondering sickly little girl clawing at life's pant leg like a dependant leech. If not for her captain's resonating speech and luminous smile she would have given up long ago, and joined her fallen brothers in her own dark locker beneath the sea.

If only she had been as strong as she was now back then saving the people she dearly loved would have been easy. If she had control over that accursed devil's ability, which had gotten them into the mess in the first place, everyone would have made it out without a scratch. Her stubborn attitude of not being treated like a child on that exhibition wouldn't be the reason an entire crew disbanded after sending many afloat with a pirate's funeral. There were so many 'what ifs' that never played out in her awaiting favor. If she could have controlled her naive emotions and not eaten the national treasure of the island it would have all worked out in the end. Right before the shooting the captain, her father, highly praised her with a giant ear splitting grin. Laughing merrily about how that was what they came here for, and they were glad to have it even if not in the way they originally intended. That night the rag tag crew cheered and another round of ale passed hand to hand around the smouldering campfire. At the time it was a relief to young girl's ears as she thought she would be yelled at and frowned upon by the people she loved. It filled her with a great sense of pride to now fill like a bigger part of the family like crew. Little did she know that her pending punishment would come later, and be much harsher than a simple scolding. She had to pay for the sinister sin of pride afterall.

With a final hard sigh she silenced her thoughts and stood to watch the remnants of the pungent drink drift slowly into the salty sea next to her feet; praying that for once her scattered memories would go with it. The wind around her blew softly against her hair, making her feel as if a soft hug enveloped her shivering form. It was one of the small things about this island that allowed the girl immense comfort. Every other encroaching tree, damp street corner, hut like building, or working civilian did nothing but haunt her rational mind with memories of the long dead. The island went on living having already forgot the torture that took place years before. Looking out into the ocean she softly spoke her goodbyes to her late captain as it had become habit by now, "I love you dad", and let the hushed words fade away in a quiet dance with the morning breeze.

"I'm glad you stopped telling him you're sorry", quickly cutting into the girl's sorrow filled thoughts like an unused razor, a man's musky voice made her whip her head around so fast he was surprised not hear it snap in two. A light smile shone on her face once she realised his presence, and the tension left her shoulders, "Would have really pissed him off ya' know". She should have known it would be him; after all he was the only person who had the ability to track her down even when she didn't want to be found.

The grayed haired man hummed down at his pupil from where he stood closer to the dense green forest from which he emerged. Staring into her eyes was the only way the man knew to read the otherwise emotionless face of the girl standing before him. He was once told by an old friend that eyes were the window to the soul, but before he met the emotionally caged girl he never gave the saying two thoughts. Her green eye was hardened with a concealed predatory gaze, cool, collected, and on guard from any surprise attack that lay dormant in the fog encased background. The blue one shown in the morning light, happy, innocent like a child, excited with the presence that presented itself. The girl was a mixture of the two sides; he realised it became a coping mechanism for the child to separate herself via emotions. There was a calm collected side that blocked interference from thought, and relied heavily on instinct. Then there was the blue side of a sad little girl whose cheerful childhood was ripped away like a bandage that once concealed the rottenness of the world around her. It took many years of coxing from the man to get her to mix those two sides and become a complete person once again, but traces of the broken women he had found bloodied in a grim desolate land still remained unchanged. "I've got a job that might be a bit of fun! What do you say?"

How could she say no to the compassionate man that had thrown her a rope to crawl out of the hole she had fallen helplessly into after her father passed; the man that trained her ruthlessly and pushed her to where she is now? It had been a while since she left the comfort of the small town that her current humble abode resided in, and with the death date of her father rising on the horizon with the glowing sun she needed some space from this place before it illuminated the darker crevices of her consciousness. If it was a job offer from this particular grinning man she knew they would both come out rich as kings, or poor and running once again from the laws of the land. Whichever way the tides swayed it would be a welcomed distraction from the infringing emotions that lapped at her heels like rabid dogs. Without this disturbance to dissuade them chewing through the wired cages she doubted her will power could keep the snarling monsters at bay for much longer. "Let me guess, I'll figure out the details when we get there, Mr. Silvers?" This man, as always, had no reason to give instruction to the girl as she always followed him on blind faith no matter how risky the situation. It's something she learned the hard way, part of her training as he called it. Though, she believed that he either didn't pay attention during the briefings of what ever escapade he got involved in, or his plan was so crazy that having a layout with instructions would do nothing to keep one on track. The continuous widening of the delighted man's grin made her suspect the latter.

"Just call me Ray."

Ray stood with his arms crossed loosely over his chest grinning like a mad scientist as the much smaller girl meandered slowly up to him after slipping on a pair of black combat boots; her small stature quickly became overshadowed by his larger one. "Where to?", the shorter of the two asked.

The man's large hand placed itself on the girl's petite shoulder and an enthusiastic "Sabaody Archipelago" sounded throughout the still beach followed by the same hefty laugh the small girl had grown to memorise over the years.

With that Jay and Ray; the strangest pair on the seas disappeared from sight, off on whatever crazy adventure awaits them.


	2. Unspoken plans

The greying older man was still laughing his deep rumble as the pair came into the clearing of a random grove which was swarming in a multitude of bustling people. Giant bubbles floated about endlessly and the strange trees stretched longingly into the seascape above them. The manufactured azure sky was completely clear of fluttering white clouds, and much to the girl's growing annoyance the light was beating heavy rays down to the archipelago. Civilians were so busy bustling about shopping or selling via open markets no one seemed to notice the horrid heat waves of the day, or the couple of pirates that seemingly appeared out of thinnest of airs. Not one person looked their way, and Ray's lips twerked up to the side in a light smirk as he watched the amusement dimm out of the younger girl's eyes. She hated crowded places, but to see the excitement of an upcoming mission diminish from her eyes was a much better alternative than watching helpless tears struggle to escape their cages behind her light irises like he would otherwise see back on that small foggy island.

Jay took a quick look around to make sure they were in the right place; no matter how many years of practice she had under her belt she always doubted her abilities. Bright lights and scattered shops littered the roads creating a dizzying maze of roaming colors before them. This was definitely Sabaody, and they had most likely landed in one of the many shopping districts. The hustle and bustle of life here was busier than she remembered much to her immediate displeasure. Everything oozed with buzzing agile energy almost effortlessly. "So Ray Ray, What's the plan?" Her voice sounded chagrined, annoyed by the sudden unexpected change in rising temperature and population among other things. She always preferred staying in the reserved frosty coated winter islands where exposure to outside commotions was kept to a dull minimum.

"Well 'ya see, there are gonna be a lot of ships docking here soon, and i'm low on funds for coating parts," he explained halfheartedly; which Jay found eerily odd in and of itself. Usually he would just brush off her questioning scrutiny with a throaty howl of laughter that stretched his leathery cheeks, and before she knew it they would be in a life or death situation. More often than not they would appear smack in the middle of pirate on pirate territory fights or a war being waged on the marines and vice versa. The oddity of popping into a seemly normal atmosphere was a cause or great concern for the young women; she most definitely preferred arriving in chaos and stealing valuables before either side noticed she had been there at all.

"Never stopped you before." Jay lazily lifted a quarked quizzical eyebrow knowing that there was something more to this seemingly mundane place; as of right now it was way too easy going, and there was nothing within the immediate site worth enough in value to steal. After traveling with Ray for years the alarming calmness of the situation brought a package dipped in thick anxiety to her doorstep; she didn't know what to expect this time around when she finally pried it open.

Nervous chuckles sounded from the tall man in question as he scratched the back of his head letting her know she was right on the money. "I'm looking for someone", he explained lowly as if to not be heard by outsiders, "They should be here shortly. I was hoping you could make some quick money while I searched." Who could he be looking for, and why was he whispering? Scanning the marsh grounds once more she didn't see any thieving pirates or dutiful marines squirming about. Was there something else they were up against that went unseen? Today of all days he had decided to bring her to Sabaody Archipelago, and for his sake she hoped something good would come out of this venture. Places from her past like Sabaody always left the distinct taste of a dirtied past in her mouth, and made her skin crawl with wiggling worms of unforgiving vengeful memories. This was a dangerous place for her to be.

"By the way your talking, sounds like you already have a plan." Turning from the cobbled walking path slightly they started heading towards a small lemonade shop. They sat down at a table outside much to Jay's growing annoyance, and a black and white suited waiter brought over a menu. It was a little odd for a small drink shop to serve tea in varying fancy suits, but to be surprised by the dress of a man on this silently intense island would leave you severely startled and unprepared for all the stranger things this land beholds.

She skimmed the shiny plastic coated menu quickly looking for her favorite drink from years before; hoping it was still on the sharp ink printed list. It's theme matched this island perfectly with sickeningly sweet fake sugar that offset the bitter reality of the small blood red fruit; a pleasantly perfect comparison. Something iced to help with the unbearable heat that seemed to be fighting with the skin that refused to defrost due to the last island's climate sounded nice as well. Was the temperature still rising? Sure felt that way. Setting the thin spread pages down she called to the waiter, "Oi! Razzilberry lemonade", with her hand waving through the air energetically; she wouldn't let the sweltering weather beat her down this time around. The youthful waiter waved back as a sign he heard her order.

A sudden sharp tap on the light wooden table brought her attention right back to the peculiarly silent person in front of her. Ray quickly moved his steel eyes to the left indicating that something was amiss that direction. Marines maybe? Slowly Jay turned her head to look placing it on the her lightly coiled fist as her elbow rested on the table; to anyone passing by she'd look like a young woman daydreaming of a hot date with glazed over eyes, yet in all actuality it was an acting practice she picked up while in hiding.

After quickly browsing the meats shop next door her eyes locked onto a young man; he was definitely not a marine. A pirate maybe? He had shaggy light brown hair swept back out of his slightly greasy face by a short spiky ponytail; a thin trimmed goatee rested on his chin. The man glanced around searching for any onlookers before writing what seemed like a quick note on a napkin and then payed for his meal and left. He seemed to have missed the women across the aisle watching intently. With a snap of her fingers the napkin was in her hand. The only notable difference to the delicate square of blanched paper a bland black check mark in the center. "This mean anything to you Ray?"

His normal dynamically impish grin didn't quite reach his ears, "It means, little pupil, our plan has been put into action. Hope your terrible acting skills have improved. See you soon!" Rayleigh left the table quickly before Jay had a chance to ask what he meant. She sat there staring at his broad retreating back as it disappeared into the surrounding crowd. A sense of somber lonesomeness enveloped her. Watching that back walk away so suddenly held so many emotions for the girl. So many times she had looked up to follow the oddly muscular back that promised her the protection of a family after all else had been hacked away by a barbarous life. No matter how precisely pristine she acted today it was clearly not any other 'ol day for the girl; on the inside she felt the stinging pain of suppressed feelings of abandonment and regret pushing out towards freedom under her skin. Glancing to the solid back she had grown accustomed to following everywhere disintegrate into the darkness casted by shadows of the large sight blocking groups of people harshly struck a cord within her. A cord that was already about to snap.

Mere seconds after he completely vanished a scratchy rucksack bag was thrown over her head and an added knock to the back of her head made life go dark. Her last thoughts bordering between the subjects of 'I hope my crazy ass teacher knows what he's doing, and 'he owns me big time for this'.

Ray was leaning against the building next door, arms crossed with a scowl resting on his face. His mouth quickly turned into a gleaming grin as one of the slithery slave traders approached the alley way. He tossed Rayleigh a sack full of heavy coins and grinned ear to ear to match him. It was obvious to see how eager the young man was about the successful capture of his pupil.

"Thanks Ray-san! We would never have caught her without your help! Tricking her into showing her abilities like that was spectacular! The advice you gave to knock her out ASAP was great too! Sure 'ya don't wanna be a slave trader? We could use a guy like you," the man talked so rapidly Ray could barely understand what he said.

"This body is too old to do something like that young man!" He responded with a fool hearty laugh.

The young men around him laughed as well as the man who wrote on the napkin threw the slender girl over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. With a nod towards Ray he began walking off. Ray could only hope she would understand the plan when she awoke.

He walked away bouncing the coins in his hands as he listened to the conversation of his pupil's captors until they were out of earshot.

"Don't 'ya think Ray-san would have pitched a fine price to?"

"Yeah, maybe. He can coat ships, but this small thing here is worth way more than that!"

"Really? 'oo is she?"

"Someone whos gonna make us filthy rich my boys. That's who."

With that the group's conversation died off into the crowded streets; everyone grinning except the soundless girl in the bag. Even the people passing by paid no mind to the obvious kidnapping. It was just a normal day on Sabaody Archipelago, and the citizens had better things to worry about.

As Jay awoke she kept her eyes closed and felt around the surrounding area with her other senses. Cold ground, a dampness all around, and the sounds of chains being moved, all telltale sounds of a dungeon.

Her head felt like it had been run over by a stampeding pack of jumper bulls, her breath was a lot more shallow than normal, lethargic, and she had a churning upset stomach. Was she drugged? Slowly her eyes opened to view an unkept dusty chamber that held her and a few others. They didn't seem nearly as weakened as she did, and were able to move around slowly with a fearful look in their widened eyes. Looking over herself she felt the cool touch of cuffs on her wrists which were chained together in front of her. Noticing the slightly different hue of her bonds compared to the others she groaned out loud; her mood immediately sour. Sea stone! Apparently they were aware of her abilities. Getting out wouldn't be as easy as she thought. What the hell was Rayleigh thinking?

Sitting up was a struggle as there was extra weight placed upon her aching shoulders. She didn't need to look down to know one of the heavy collars was around her neck as everyone else also seemed to wear them like she was in the bad fashion scene. Jay heard of this place before; though, she herself had never set foot in the ethically muddled building. During her time with the accursed man that stole away her happy memories she never let her charges persuade her into the accursed Human Auction House. Rayleigh what were you thinking?


	3. Traps

The girl nervously gave a short smirk to hide the disdain that began bubbling to the surface in regards to the emotionally stressed thrashing war raging in her pitless stomach. This hell hole of desolate human moral was not a safe place for her venture; there were more than a few particular pirates crews who would bet a vast amount of riches on a chance to impel her petite skull through a rigid spike, and adhere it to the front of their vessel in an ambiguous try of self praise. Jay knew what Rayleigh's unbelievably ridiculous plan vaguely consisted of after all the clues clicked into place like the long lost piece of an exceptionally tricky puzzle. The idea sat in her stomach as if she had just breathlessly devoured another mortal and was trying not to regurgitate due to the overpowering foul taste, so not well at all. Trust in her enigmatic teacher was essential in all their criminal undertakings, and even though she felt like a newborn lamb being silently led to the impending slaughter of a starving lion's den she would have to calm her frazzled nerves to trust the old fool. He had never failed her once, and as she took a breath to sooth her fluttering heart she decided to follow his cryptic instructions on needing to make him money.

A strange estravigently dressed pompous stagehand arrive by the bars of the cell Jay and many other patrons were unceremoniously crammed into, and began to call out their new numbered names, "Nuuumb'e 7" He yelled with a thick flamboyant accent as he flung the bright green feathered boa over his shoulder as if to extend the reach of his grandiose another step further. A lanky man covered in dingy rags shakily stood on staggering legs and sauntered towards the crisp iron gate slowly; his head of overgrown shaggy blonde hair bowed down from the shameful collar weighing in on his struggling shoulders to pull his once grand spirit towards the mud packed floor. He was wistfully whisked away toward the direction Jay assumed the stage sat to be auctioned off like a dying farmer's left over livestock. Straining her neck to look over the broad stone like collar that inhabited her own neck she quickly noticed she too had the flimsy white paper loosely taped to the front of her chest; her new name was 11.

"Woke up just in time for the party, Ay girl?" An all to familiarly gruff voice blew against her ears directly behind her.

Turning to look for the breathy source that disturbed her mental checklist Jay found her teeth grinding in thriving annoyance. There sat Rayleigh Silvers with an all too smug smile nestled on his perminitaly sea chapped lips; the sides of his eyes crinkled in carefully guarded laughter. He knew how agitated she would be once she saw him. Jay never fully understood why Rayleigh would show up smack in the middle of an already ignited mission, but when he did he always seemed to stir up more confusingly unnecessary chaos than necessary. "We wouldn't make much money if 'ya were asleep".

Ignoring the humorous excitement exuding from ever grinning man before her the girl responded with an annoyingly exasperated huff, "I thought you were looking for something". Secretly, Jay was glad Ray showed up even if that meant things would more than likely get hairy for her down the road. She had been restocking her thieving mind that had become encrusted with dried red rust from years of non-use with ideas on how to escape while covered in the cold accursed sea stones that bined her movements. One way or another she knew that today the salty sea witch would encage her in the rolling cerulean waves of it's tranquilizing spell, so she relaxed a little knowing that if Ray was here he wouldn't let her die or get too bloody. Though, from her begrudged tone he knew she was upset about the current rapidly unfolding events; no matter how level headed she sounded. Being haphazardly forced into sick slavery and freaking out mentally trying to figure an escape route when you could barely move does that to a person, so he understood when her hard set multicolored glare was turned on him.

"I still am. Didn't think this would happen though. Thought I'd just go with it." She never wanted to wipe that cocky smirk off his aging face so badly, but she knew that proposition to be futile from years of failed attempts. Ever since the spitfull sun awoke the day had become a crumbling discarded bone the hounds of hell wouldn't even chew on, but Ray did provide a dysfuncinistic distraction like always that she was gratefully indebted to.

"Ah, huh. And us both getting sold into slavery is part of the plan because?" It was an opened ended scarcastic question she already knew an obvious answer to; despite her wishful thinking there was no master plan. She shushed his response coldly while leaning her tired head against his bony knee, "I'm gonna bring in more money than 'ya. Then i'm gonna steal it. Wanna make a bet?" Ray grinned full heartedly now. When bets were being made between the two master thieves things always became exciting.

The flamboyantly dressed man ordered a lightly armored guard to open the stubborn iron cell door and he headed straight towards the muttering pair catching Jay's attention. Getting dragged up harshly by her now distressed delicate elbow the last words she heard from the entertained man behind her was a rasby, "Good luck lass!", and she knew he was ready to put his money where his mouth was. Jay always loved being a betting woman; rarely did she come out on top of the second place podium unless it was against Ray and what she believed to be his cheating ways.

The dark printed number was ripped off the bare skin of her upper chest where it had been applied with a quick jerk by the dramatic stage hand, and she was led out onto the brightly light blaring center stage. Energy drained away hastily from her due to the villainous sea stone which made it exhausting to hobble too far. Luckily, a sturdy wooden place to sit was right next to the circus conductor's podium; it just so happened to be the shiny well polished floor. The crowd stopped their latest murmurings about whoever had been sold off before her, and watched as the small girl settled herself on the ground with a rather content look plastered to her unamused face. The collective confused gazes all turning towards her at once was such a theatrical expectation she bite back a throaty laugh; what an easy crowd she had to work with today. Jay scanned over the rambunctious congregation looking for the perfect victim while thinking up the right bait to use to entice them to surrender all their money for her pleasure. For all the times Ray and Jay went on a stealing spree Jay had never won. She was not going to fall victim to the old man's deceiving means this time around!

With the practiced grace of a sultry orange tigress stalking her prey through tall jungle grasslands the youth processed the crowd via face and body language. It wasn't her first rodeo ascertaining a gig such as this, and was easy to pick people off one by one to help complete her goal. Too poor, Too poor, just here for the show, poor, ehhh maybe, group of slave traders, no, no, fuck tenryubito not getting involved with that, and...perfect! Pirates! If they were here they had to have a hidden stash close by she could steal afterwords; at least thats how it had been during the olden days. A quick passing thought escaped and she wondered if they still charged consumers at the door before silencing her distraught past and focusing on the quickly approching game at hand.

She watched intently as a lanky tanned black haired man with a short goatee flipped off a redhead glowering at him from the back of the room. A string of colorful curses coming from the red pirates bitter mouth. A rivalry; the deadly seas had used their magic and turned these two quite salty it seemed. That was something she knew how to work with; it was a perfect match! A sure win!

Law watched lazily as the announcer started to speak, but a tingling irritated feeling coming from the back of the room directed squarely towards his head tempted him with distraction. A young girl was brought out to the slaughter front of them; she looked no more than twenty years old. Short silverish white hair flew up in the man made air currents as she plopped harshly down to the ground while mismatched eyes, one blue one green, anxiously scanned the area. Law came to the conclusion her wild eyes and albino hair were likely a genetic mutation; it was uncommon but not rare to see. She was dressed in short black cut off shorts that showed exactly how strikingly pale skin was, and led him to believe she had been recently captured from a winter island much like his home; if not she looked like she rarely saw a drop of daylight. Her vitamin D would more than likely be deficient. An eggshell white knitted bikini top with a cliche pirate's skull on the right side dressed her cleavage. The strange girl was muscled more than a civilian should be, and as she sat he caught the slight sight of faded tattoo ink under the hem of her shorts. This tiny girl was a pirate, and a rather popular one judging by the hushed whispers sounding off around the room, but he couldn't place her to any of of the new rookies appearing.

Disco waved his dirty hands towards the girl who by now was smirking. The gesture caught his interest and he arched a questioning brow. Was she not scared of being sold as a slave?

"Any of you men out there looking to get rich?! Have an old score to settle with this little lady?" At the opening line of the new auction item the crowd quieted down instantaneously. "This lovely lady here is none other than the world famous thief whos been in hiding for years! She has stolen from almost every marine post from the east blue to the new world", Jay remembered that utterly terrifying endeavor. Ray and her had gotten into a spat on who was the better thief when she was young and stupid, and designated stealing from marine bases as a contest. If you were captured you lost, if you stole more than the other you won. It was really pretty simple; for the life of her she never figured out how Ray actually beat her every time, or how her bounty raised significantly but his name was never once mentioned in the tabloids. "She has finally been captured and brought here for your amusement! The world class thief Jay the 'coward' Jaymes!"

Uhgg. That stupid nickname! She only got that uncanny unbearable name because of the way she used her unstable ability. Hearing it out loud made her sound a lot less intimidating than she wanted to be viewed as. Cowards were seen as weak easy prey; besides Jay was a thief not a pirate! Why not let the pirates keep their cute little nicknaming game to themselves; she would gladly stay out of it? She looked up towards the bickering couple of boys at the back of the cathedral domed building and wondered if they had government issued names too; she didn't much like keeping up with current issues.

Law's fine eyebrow shot up. There was no way to know how many valuables this girl had stashed under her apparently large caverned belt, or how many beli the marines would pay for her head. Lately he had been toying with the idea of moving up the shaky governmental pirate relationship latter, and if the marines had beef with the young girl it could boost his reputation with them quite grandly. "Shall we start the bidding!?" Disco yelled into the newly reignited crowd.

"50,000 beli, for the bitch!" The voice came from behind Law and he turned to glance in hidden surprise at the red hair captain of the Kidd pirates who shouted out his bid unruly right as Law was about to put his newly formulated plan to practice. Eustass Kidd stood by the wall, overly muscular arms crossed with a smug smirk on his plump lips directed towards the dark doctor. Most hands that were up for bids slowly went down either having felt the electrifying tension between the two rookie captians, or the starting bid was too high for their tastes. His glare challenged anyone to speak out against him. Then his eyes met Law's, and the girl could tell the horse race had started. It was time for her to figure out which steed to bet on as it seemed they had a bidding war all their own brewing.

"60,000 beli", Law replied boredly haphazardly throwing up a sun kissed hand, still staring down Kidd. Unfortunately for them Jay knew how to play this game all too well, but while her plans formulated rapidly in her mind to achieve the best outcome an outside source threw her off her game.

"75,000 beli!", the shout came from the complete other side of the room, "I'll protect you my princess!" The new man who stepped foot onto the chessboard wore a black dress suit, and had combed back straight straw blonde hair. His eyebrows were unrealistically curly, and rose as high as his honest hopes to rescue the only damsel in distress that walked upon the stage that day. Though to anyone but him the girl didn't look to be in too much distress at all, as she relaxed against the podium to stared him down; sizing him up.

Jay didn't get a good read on him or the size of his wallet before a big busted women smacked him over the head with such force he face planted to the floor. She started yelling harsh words at him that Jay didn't quite catch as they were seated quite far from her, so she silently wondered who this animated woman was to interrupt her money making process. His angry girlfriend maybe? Either way it would do no good to persuade him to pay more money with an angry partner; thieves could never get top dollar while dealing in spontaneous fits of jealousy. Envy was another of God's deadly sins after all. It was a shame because for some strange reason Jay felt the busty women and herself were comrades in a awkward sense even though they had never met. She shrugged off the feeling telling herself she had no time to play couple's therapy.

"80,000," The lanky dark haired male from before spoke up, voice quiet, yet demanding respect from all around the chattering room that fearfully calmed backed down at the sound. The girl was struck with a distinct feeling that the man was more frightening than he let on. The falme red haired man he was currently ignoring grit his teeth. Did he not have much money after all, or was he heated up with Mr. handsome? Nonetheless his endlessly gritting chompers ment no money was being thrown about, and for Jay this stand still was becoming a kill joy. Her caretaker needed money for some reason and she need to win a bet, so she unapologetically hurried things along.

"Oi! Flame head! Why the glaring at Mr. Tall and dark over there? Having a lovers spat or something?" All eyes went to the small girl propped on stage as she hollered at her unexpecting victims. Her voice weakly soft do to the sea cuffs, yet resonating with complete confidence.

Rookie red hair began walking vehemently down the aisle; he was pisssed. Unexpectedly, guards surrounded the tiny girl cutting off her vision from the toy she picked much to her displeasure. Disco spoke, "In order to touch the product you must first have the winning bid. Unless you want us to call in the marines, Captain Kidd?" Jay had to ammit Disco sure knew how to word his speeches to earn more money. The threat was clear in his slightly whiny voice, as he pointedly glanced to the Tenryubito watching things unfold like he was sitting in the frount row of a new drama. Jay let out a humm as Kidd stalked back to the porous wall he was previously leaning on; his black boots clacked heavily against the ground giving off the feeling of a toddlers tantrum. A permanently set scowl directed at her. Good, she wouldn't be much of a fight with the sea stone cuffs on, and it was nice to know that the vial auction house valued her as a highly expensive piece of property.

Her eyes met the other group of pirates. The lanky dark one whom she assumed was a captain smirked towards the redhead, and his surrounding crew members were trying to suppress their childish laughter. The race was still on, so giddy up.

"You'll pay for insulting me bitch! 100,000 beli!" At Red's remark she whistled. That was a pretty penny. Ray might still be able to get more being a ship coater though; she would have to up the bounty to win.

"110,000" The cool voice of Law spoke up once again seeming bored of the challenge Captain Kidd presented.

"Seriously? You ain't gonna win your lover's spat like that! Please don't let me be owned by these bastards! I'd die of the stupidity i'd catch! Anybody else wanna bid? I'd make a good pet!" The thought of her bowing to someone left a horrid taste in her mouth, and if she wasn't front and center stage she would have gagged at the thought. Anything for money though! Besides is not like it would actually happen: get in, get out, beat Ray and be done with it.

"125,000" Red grinned.

"And you 'ya flamer! You're a bigger dumb shit! Didn't even know you got insulted!" Jay was getting on the wrong side of two very strong rookie captains not she paid it any mind. After they paid and she was urged off the polished stage for new cargo to arrive they would never see her or their money again.

"Bitch! Once I buy you you'll pay! 130,000!" Did that guy actually just bet against himself? If that was true she could bait more out of him. Please nobody say anything! A slow grin split her face unknowingly as a small snort left her lips without permission. It seemed these men had a way of throwing her off her game; it was quite amusing.

Law scoffed a chipped, "Idiot", earning a flustered, pissed off look from Kidd. He couldn't lose his battle of pride against Kidd so close to entering the new world, but he couldn't spend all his resources on a thief without knowing how much the world government would pay for her either. That's when his eyes widened slightly and he turned his undivided attention to the woman who was smiling ear to ear; that was the moment when it all clicked. She was a thief; she was baiting them. How could he get out of the trap he willing walked himself into? The moment she calmly came out on stage he should have realised that her presence was completely different fromt the human stock before. His solution? Let everyone discover her plan, and force her to double back to save herself. "It seems to me like rallying us up so we spend more on you is your goal thief? I bet you're planning to run after all is handed in. What was it that they called you again? Coward? That does seem like something a coward would do." It was phrased like a question, but it was definitely an insult that didn't sneak its ugly head past Jay's ears.

Jay felt her face heat up in anger at the use of the nickname the navy gave her. It always left a bloodied taste in her mouth. She forced herself to quietly quell the blood thirsty beast of pride that reared up under her skin. This man was smart, and she would not fall into the same mental hedge maze she laid for them much to Law's annoyance. A slow, easy smile made its way to her face. "Hmmmm~ So you already know i'll beat you. Is that what you're saying? That I'm stronger? If your scared and want to drop out be my guest; it's your loss anyway."

This conniving women was definitely a quick thinker,and she voiced words laced with landmines of challenging intention. She must have played this cat and mouse gig before the intellectual captain of the heart pirates thought utop slender laced fingers; continuing this game wouldn't help his cause realised. Disco was counting down from three as Law finished calculating how this horse race would end with Kidd having the winning bet. He could see Kidd's brain processing what had just been said, and could tell he was lost in thought over the new possibilities of a possible robbery. Would he chose: to bet more and maybe lose money because it was obvious for thieves to steal, bet more and win the battle of pride that raged between himself the Kidd pirates, or drop out and lose while secretly counting the riches he still attained; he hated losing. In his mind the young petite girl became a giant silken web weaving spider ready to cast a longer yarn for him to be ensnared.

Law slowly put up his hand with two slender fingers in the hushed air; a sign that he was raising the bet once more. The countdown started again quickly with Disco wanting to move to more precious cargo awaiting backstage, but this time around Law had placed the winning bid. Jay smirked to herself; he was going for a battle of pride, and giving up the money. Young pirates were easy like that; too prideful for their own good, or so she thought.

"Sold! To Mr. Trafalgar Law for 133,000 beli!" Kidd's head shot up at the end of the auction glaring at Law like he was emperor and his entire kingdom had just been insulted. Apparently no one told him the countdown had begun again, and he no doubt thought his bet was still the winning one. It showed as confusion in his rounded eyes, and caused Law to smirk in triumph over the win of their miniature battle.

As she was marched off stage to make room for the new property that was to be presented Law called out, "Coward! Make no mistake. I'm not letting you get away." His eyes were cascading in glowering dark determination despite his calm features as he handed a bag of beli to the polar bear to bring up to the front. His eyes locked on hers until she was out of site.

Out of the crevice the young genetically altered women had disintegrated into can a confident chime, "Whatever you say tall and dark! See you never!" Jay quickly pushed Trafalgar Law out of her mind that was being smothered in exhaustion, and set about a way to slip out of the stone cuffs that still binded her sore wrist so she could teach a certain greying man a lesson in gambling.


	4. Waiting games

Jay was harshly pulled down the winding ashen brick corridors by the same scrawny armor clad guard that drug her to the stage and thrown rather brutally into an awaiting steel barred cell once more. As she felt the spitting sting of small lacerations on her bare legs from where unclothed skin reached the rough ground she realised that once money was made the lives and injustices of the product no longer seemed of any importance; she was no longer their problem. On the way down she passed her smirking secret partner in crime an inconspicuous wink; he no doubt heard her show if the suppressed sparkling twinkle in his eye was anything to go by. Let's see the old man try to top that; 133,000 beli was a great price, and she had a master plan to steal any other priceless valuable in eyesight scattered around her winnings to pull a fast one over on dear 'ol Ray Ray! The tables would be turned!

It air was chilly now as the ground dampened with unseen condensation; as the guard walked away Jay carefully put her hurried plan of action into practice. She willfully wondered if father time would allow her a quick catnap, and if it would lessen the effect of the despicable sea stone any; a rigid sigh came from her hoarse vocally abused from taunting her pray vocal chords because she knew it wouldn't help release her from the devil's curse. How would the wave encased stone's effects last anyways? Would she have to wait for Ray to be done so her could free her? The only other way would be to find the golden key which wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that moving any part of her body more than a simple feet took the same amount of effort as it would be to raise a flame dragoon above her head. Agitated she glared down at the monstrosities and mumbled a few curse words as she tried to remember all the different ways to slip out of the restricting cuffs. The heavy constricting collar became of little importance because she knew her teacher had many ways of getting them off.

Said teacher meanwhile stretched out his haki slowly looking for what room Jay was forced into. He could tell by the thin weak smile she shone before she was hauled off that the young'n wasn't in as good a condition as she let on. Ray knew she wouldn't be able to get her body in gear to acquire the keys, and with her weak Busoshoku haki she was practically physically defenceless like a tranquilized beast in a cage; not knowing who bought the girl weighed heavily on his mind. He had to admit that due to the abnormally weak formed haki her Kenbunshoku haki rivaled anyone he knew ten fold, but it still wasn't enough to protect herself in the state she ungracefully landed in. He would never admit it, but with her strange ability to tell exactly where the gold layed caused him to put in more effort than ever during their last escapade in the race of ransacking marines. She would have won a few times if he didn't purposely set a few obstacles, in the form of government personnel, across her running path. Smiling at the amusing memories he watched the other auctioneers run about. He would have to uncuff her as a knight in shining armor before he made his entrance onto the auctioning stage, and he would always hold it over her head like a father figure he tried hard to mirror.

Jay exasperatedly sighed for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Nothing was working! None of the thieves tricks Reighly taught her to slip out of handcuffs when she was younger had worked. Did sea stone cuffs work differently than regular rope or leather ones; they didn't look like it? All the fruitless training she went threw meant nothing in this situation! He would tie her up with crude rope on a deserted island without food and water for days, and eat baskets full of her favorite food in front of her again! If that evilly aligned motivation didn't work in Jay's favor to figure out how to undo the knotted chains Ray would lead rather large beasts from their slumber deep in the forest thicket into her personal circle. Hungry beasts who could chew her up with one tooth at that. Fear definitely did the trick Jay remembered paling slightly. That was one awful experience she didn't want to repeat, so she set her dying will towards messing with her restraints even if that meant weakly banging them on the porous stone ground.

Noise, lots of loud thought interrupting noise screamed from the direction of the audience to desperately grasp at her ears. Crashing sounds, and unmuddled yelps were pierced through the stone walls of her cell like a hot knife through butter. Something was going on; something that could be used as a distraction to get the money if not for the cuffs weighing her arms down! She missed her cue; for a thief that could be fatal! Why did she allow herself to follow in her crackpot of a teacher's gigantic footprints like it was an ultimate religion? She knew better than to not plan ahead!

Footfalls hurried down the echoing corridor as auctioneers ran out into the now cramped hallway from the seller's slave gallery no doubt looking for the elusory exit. Another seemingly inexperienced guard skidded to a stop by the door of her pretty new cage. Jay studied the youth as he approached gasping for air like the young guppy he was. He reeked of a complete mess of blonde hair, brown eyes, and was excessively short; it was no acquaintance of hers, but one thing she could feel with her always overstretched outreach of observation Haki was that he had the jingling sound of keys connected to his popping bony hip. Did Ray send him to save her like the adventurous hero she pegged him for? People here were a lot easier to pay off now days no matter what side they acted as a militant on. Jay knew all too well how scarce loyalty had become in this golden riches driven community of private piracy.

"Get up! 'yer earned a lot of beli from that captain. 'll collect 'ament later!", The guard yelled with a less than extensive vocabulary. The authority he held onto like a whip hurried down the hall without him at cracking of his voice. Ray didn't seem to send this man, yet what more so confused the girl was the fact the boy began to shake as she didn't stand. Whatever was happening she was sure her partner had cascaded chaos down on the poor audience, but she didn't think his turn would have come so soon. One thing that caught her attention like a draw out fishing net was the fact the man fidgeting before her said he'll collect payment later. Somehow or another the tan cloth bag filled with beli being brought up by that giant white polar bear had never been collected. If that was the case there was no reason for her to stay, or figure out where the beli was being stored. If everyone was running for their lives in one direction the valuables would have already been collected; hints this shaking man in front of her looking down at her like he'd rather be anywhere but collecting said merchandise.

"I. Ca. Can't. Walk" it was a weak facade as acting had never been her strong suit; no matter how many training 'excursions' Ray sent her into the dangerous situations acting extraordinarily stronger keen pirates never paid off. The infamous Shanks even let her believe she had the upperhand before secretly slipping strong ale into her tiny hands and inviting Ray, who had been watching from the tree tops, to join in on the merriment. The immense strain on her body from the sea stone made her look as threatening as a small toddler which helped her helpless act. For that she was both thankful, and a little irritated.

The guard grit his teeth gaining annoyance a the seemingly barely responsive girl, and went to hoist her up from the elbow. Her knees buckled in and she fell back to the ground that was becoming all familiar with her skinned legs. The worst part was that wasn't an act. She felt like it took all her energy just to regain her breath.

"To. Told. You," despite her lethargic sense of being her shaky voice held a rickety cocky tone and her face a laborious smirk.

Grunting like a miffed red assed baboon the short man reached down and hoisted her up over his shoulder; for the second time that day she felt like an unwanted rag doll. Too weak to protest she hung there like a dead woman, and wondered how this normally depressed day became so crazy. The man let out a disgruntled sound as he readjusted the added weight, and she not so innocently kneed his sensitive stomach in return for the fat remark that sounded under his breath. This girl would be the death of him; he was supposed to collect the majestic rare mermaid if anything went down, but seeing as he would have to face those insane pirates the second highest selling point in the show would just have to work. It just so happened to be a thief who was not intent on leaving easily as they proceed down the hallway with the panicked crowd.

Jay spotted a civilian dressed man who seemed to not belong in the retreating chaos. The stocky boy was searching for something going room to room quickly slipping in and out of doors. It was worth a shot but Jay yelled, "The Keys! This guy has the keys!" The startled man looked up with wide eyes as he eyed her. He was small yet bulky with blue flowing hair, and accompanied by intense clicking sound as he ran. With an rawr the bulky guy charged the man running with Jay and took him to the ground with an end result of throwing Jay with him once more to the earth. Both Terra and Poseidon seemed to be against her today!

As she rolled across the ground and into the wall with a loud crack the blue haired man took the keys from the now unconscious stage hand. He got up after snapping the keys off the unmoving man's left hip with a happy smile on his face. He started to sprint back the way he came only to be stopped by a "Hey" that was deadly quiet, yet weighed his spirit down until it made him falter to a stop. Was that little shit really going to just leave her after she helped him?! He now had what he needed now it was time for him to pay her back! With a tsk he turned around and found the key to undo the girls handcuffs before becoming an expert fumbler with the ones for the collar.

Immediately Jay felt like Atlas had taken the world back from her strained delicate shoulders. All the symptoms of the shackles slowly started to dissipate. She felt: as light as a feather, free as a spring egal, and wanted nothing more than payback and a winning bet. Jay knew thought that if there was a commotion the same place Ray was then he was more then likely the one who started it. "Thank you," she called after the man who ran off with SUUUPPPEEERRRR speed as he put it. He flashed an expedient peace sign and was out of sight before she could blink. Jay leaned up against the mall for a few deep breaths as her recovering energy returned before walking over to the guard and finding a small bag of beli. Assuming the crumbling building would collapse on him he wouldn't need it anyway, and it would be a surprise attack to beat Ray. Picturing the auctioning room she had just been the center of she snapping her scrawny fingers and disappeared from sight.

Feeling a slight change in the air Law watched as his thieving captive Jay appeared on the stage seemingly out of nowhere collarless; he was glad once the money was handed in he used his ability to switch it soundlessly back out. Two could play a stealth game. She was quiet as a mouse, as graceful as a bird swooping to catch her prey, and with Silvers's introduction everyone else was too stunned to notice. Ray glanced over honestly surprised to see the grinning girl juggling pieces of gold like a clown with no restraints. Jay returned his look with a scowl still a little peeved at getting involved in this situation to begin with. Even though nothing bad had happened having your energy completely drained away for most the day was not a pleasant experience; it was quite a burden on the body. Turning away she scanned the crowd finding most of the people had already run from the chaos that seemed to follow the senile old man. The exceptions being an injured fish man with a bullet wound, his partners starfish thing, the rookie red haired ass's gang, the dark skinned one who thought he could buy her and crew, and blonde who tried to rescue her and party.

Footsteps coming up from behind her alerted her to a new presence. She turned just in time to see the blue haired man from before running up the stairs to the right. So he was a pirate afterall. It seemed like Rayleigh had already rescued the mermaid that the new group seemed to watch with baited breath. Was that who Ray was here for?

Law watched his prey carefully as she called to Silvers, "Ray? You do this," and pointed at the destruction before her almost lazily. He was surprised to hear that they knew of each other; that was good information. It meant she was more than likely very strong enough, or had many powerful connections the government would pay largely for, and a good candidate for his crew should he decide to keep her. It would be a huge advantage for his crew, but since her collar and shackles were off he needed to find a new way to capture the girl. By the look in her fierce eye's force wouldn't work; either she or this famous man would deter him. This was no longer a battle of pride for her to join his crew; she was now a strategic piece to his growing plans. Law made no move to go after the girl and just watched her through narrowed eyes. Waiting.

Jay watched Ray as he nodding his head towards a scrawny guy in a straw hat. Him? Was that who he was waiting for? How did he know he would be here? Jay turned her attention to the straw hat clad youth and nodded her head, "Whats up?"

Whoever this guy was he didn't seem to be in that good of a mood, and with all the attention suddenly shifted to her the tension in the room lessened a loose fraction. "Monkey D. Luffy, who are you?"

His tone was rude, but that was to be expected after seeing how high he held his guard; If she didn't know better Jay would think it could rival the height of Sky Island. To Jay what he was really asking was friend or enemy? Though, that should be quite obvious unless Ray hadn't gotten too that part of the introductions.

Law watched quietly through the tension as a guard who was previously laying face down from being hit by a piece of crumbled building jumped up to attack Luffy from behind only to be distracted by the loud sound of someone snapping their fingers. A thin light blue wavy line appeared around the guard's neck, and in the next second his head was gone; as in dissapeared without a trace. Law looked for the source of the sound to come across a hand in the air, fingers held in a snapping position. He followed the lightly muscled arm up to Jay's mismatched eyes that seemed to be challenging him with a smirking face. "I'm a friend." The guy's head was by her feet bleeding out onto the stage and slowing drifting towards waterfalling down the stage side. For Law it was quite an exciting sight. She had not moved an inch from where she sat before calmly murdering the man. Thoughts and plans formulated in his mind behind calm eye's that challenged her back at the proposal of this new crew mate/ trading piece. With his imagination going wild now that he found out her devil fruit ability he allowed a small smile to express itself on his smooth narrow lips. This however did not go unnoticed by Jay as she turned towards him raising an laughing eyebrow. Law's smile dissipated slightly as she seemed to be laughing, "you still wanna take me on," silently.


	5. Coward

To Jay's immediate surprise Straw Hat brightly grinned out a loud, "It's nice to meetcha," without so much as a sparing glance to the beheaded waterfall's intruding bloody presence. So angry one moment, and happy the next; he had mood swing that would rival her smiling idot of a boyfriend. As she sized up the rather short man in front of her she was struck with the epiphany of who he looked like with that stretched happy go lucky face. What did Ray want with this strange bipolar child who resembled her love so closely? Jay scrutinised him over once more; she had heard of this name being spoken around by various townspeople, but never looked into this Monkey D. Luffy.

"Yo bitch! That was sick; after I kick your smart mouthed ass join my crew!" The loud gruff voice jolted her attention to the back of the room again. Her green eye scanned the flaming red haired captain and his sparse crew. She snorted a little at the thought that maybe he really was a bad Shanks impersonator with red hair and all; it wouldn't be the first time she came across one. Though his crew all looked like pretty decent fighters she knew she could take them on; after all the New World held many gruelling pass or fail challenges they hadn't gone through yet. All her life she never took on challenges that she didn't know she could win, so she chuckled slightly and quietly decided to keep her smart mouth unzipped. Besides against Ray there was only one other person who managed to beat her at her game, or in a fight and he was way stronger than the men in front of her. The girl grinned at the memory; a small smile forming on her chapped lips with thoughts of the man.

"So what's the plan now Ray? I wasn't able to grab much because of this little interruption." Jay gestured to the scene before her with a deliberate wave of her hand much like a butler introducing a high class guest to a chattery banquet; a roll she had played before. Kidd knowing he had been ignored and completely forgotten let out a long colorful string of threats poised towards the young girl. She held out the meager earnings she took of the guard towards his cockily.

"Well then, I guess that means I've won." Ray looked at the girl; the gleaming shine in his eyes causing her to narrow her own mismatched ones.

"You're awfully cheeky for someone who didn't get to go on stage. The real price you brought in would have been zero right?" Even as she responded to him she could feel the cool breath of air on her arms and neck causing her hair to stand on end. A feeling she was quite familiar with when dealing with the infuriating man before her; the detectable feeling of losing.

To answer the girl's question Ray flung a jingling bag of coins up in the air catching it before it landed on the ground completely ignoring the three other pirate crews still in the room watching this exchange. "I still got the money for selling you out to those slave traders."

Jay's face contorted into serious surprise then pissed off pure anger, and ultimately her shoulders drooped in mild depression. That ass hole; she didn't know how much was in the bag, but stealing from random people would have been better than showing up nearly empty handed. Making a mental note to use more dirty tricks against the old man her posture straightened itself out. A will ignited in her eyes; next time she would just have to cheat!

Law watched as the girl's unique eyes as they glowered towards the different people in the spacious room. No doubt trying to figure out which of them had the most money. Stealthily, he put his hand in his pocket lightly fingering the soft cloth of the pouch of beli to make sure it was still there. He could only take so much of the playful banter being thrown back and forth between the odd couple before he cleared his throat deeply to speak. He had a feeling that if he didn't they would never get out of there.

The girl's head immediately snapped to him at the sound, and he held her steady gaze until she looked away again causing a gleeful charge to run through his spine; looking away was a sign of submission and he took this act as a small victory. It seemed Jay wasn't as bullheaded as she seemed to be. "Yo, i'll let 'ya mens talk. I'm gonna head out since i've got no reason to be here anymore," at this she pointedly looked towards the tan dark haired man once more, "Ray." She said his name in goodbye with quite a vehemently sour amount of sarcastic distance. Said man chuckled quietly to himself; the girl he raised had always been a sore loser. One would think that after all the losses she would have gotten use to it, but her competitive streak was far greater than her late father's.

In truth Jay was absolutely exhausted, and if anything was to go wrong at the moment she knew there was no way she could handle it safely if an admiral showed up in protest for the snot nosed celestial. The strength to fight back had been zapped into those sea stone cuffs, and it would take a while for her to recover. "Nice meeting you Luffy." She exchanged a small wave and smile before heading towards the door. Snapping herself out of there would be, well a snap, but the nagging feeling in her stomach told her something was going to go wrong, and saving the last bit of energy she had left in case of emergencies was the best plan. Ray had always taught her to be cautious, and when she was around the callous man it was always a good thing to be extra careful.

Law's stormy eyes never left her form as he watched her pace over to the giant wooden doors behind him seemingly lost in thought. It was easy to tell how on guard she became around people she didn't trust; she stayed well out of grabbing range and skirted around the edges of the seats instead of walking straight down the aisle until finally reaching the dark stained oak double doors. The irritated voices of the Kidd pirate's cussing towards the girl, and Monkey D. Luffy's conversation with the infamous Silvers Rayleigh almost drowned out the soft spoken "Fuck this" Jay mumbled after opening the door and peeking out, but Law's attentively keen ears pick up on it easily. Looking slightly past her he caught a glimpse of the war which awaited them outside. All his straying thoughts of ensnaring the snarky girl, or listing to the conversation going on between the others in the room immediately vanished. His mind went straight into survival mode. His crew and him could more than likely defeat all the marines that awaited out the door. Confidence was key; if you weren't a confident pirate you were a dead one. Law smirked, it would give him a fearful new title for entering the the new world. The only thing holding him back from facing all the awaiting marines was the fact that Straw Hat had punched a tenryuubito out cold; stronger opponents would be showing up soon. He took one last look over his shoulder towards his prey he would have to trap at a later date; It was meant to be a quick glance, but the face splitting foxy smile she wore stopped his plans in place.

The perfect revenge plan had dropped itself right into her lap. Surely, this would show the old geezer not to cheat her again. She knew what was waiting for them on the outside of the door, but there was no reason Ray had to know, or any of the other pirates in the room for that matter. It would be her nice little parting gift, and they needed to prove themselves one way or the other before entering the New World. "I'm gonna head straight to the shop. See ya Ray Ray, Strawhat, ugly Shanks, and...who were you again?" One hand held in a peace sign and the other poised at her hip she flashed a beaming grin that and laughed. She laughed at the threatening glare the Dark Doctor gave her and vanished with a snap of her fingers.

Law heard a quiet "Dammit" in the form of Rayleigh's ruff voice, and a loud "That's so cool" from straw hat's. Monkey's face was mildly excited, and from the disdain look on Ray's face he knew something was going on.

Penguin was quite surprised by the girl, and it showed on his face in the form of a rosy blush; he always had been weak towards girls with pretty faces. A small "awesome" snuck it's way out of his gaping lips. His awed thoughts were immediately quelled by his captain's stern gaze, and smiled sheepishly at him with a hard gulp.

Law's eyes held a multitude of smoldering emotions beneath the surface of his liquid irises: want, need, all possessive traits. Penguin knew his captain had seen something he wanted in this small girl. If it was the woman herself or the devil fruit powers she possessed he wasn't sure, but as his captain stared holes at where the girl had been standing he had a sinking feeling this wasn't the last they would of her. A blush arose from his butterflied infested stomach as he remembered checking out the petite girl when she was brought on stage a few hours ago, and silently hoped his captain would allow a women in the crew soon. He needed a break from all the smelly men who shared his cabbin. He looked towards an excited Sachi who glanced at him, to let him know he too was amused by the prospects of receiving a women into their crew for whatever reason. With those teleporting powers of hers she would be tricky to catch, but good thing Captian Law had been bored lately.

Jay sat quietly wait for Ray with another bottle of rum in her shaking hands. His distracting event was over, and her mind quickly flipped the golden switch of mourning. Today was not over yet, and her teasing thoughts came back with a vengeance. After washing them away like a sea wave gobbling up a seashell on the sandy shores she laid in Ray's uncomfortable bed and let darkness over take her.

Morning birds singing awoke a disgruntled Law the day after Pacifica's replica nearly took claimed the bounty for his head. He decided to let his crew rest a few more days before setting out to sea once more. They needed the rest, and he knew he need to power up his crew members if they were going to make it in the new world if yesterday's battle was anything to go by. Law looked towards Jean Bart, whom he had picked up during the confusion at the auction house, and motioned him over as he entered the navigation room. Thinking of the auction house again he realised he had yet to find the girl as she appeared nowhere in the chaos. He doubted he was on the island anymore as she had an ample amount of time to spirit herself away.

Law motioned Sachi, and Penguin over with a wave of his slender hands as well. "We need to restock our supplies while the pose sets", he motioned to Bebo with twerk of his head, "Take Bebo with you there is a lot to carry." Four people for a supply run seemed like a little bit too much in penguin's mind, but they were honestly almost out of everything; plus he was happy to not carry the weight. Law's crew had been growing quickly, and as such food and water rations began depleting rapidly. They were going to have to pillage more ships along the way for more supplies before too long.

Sachi took the larger supply list and bag of beli before heading out with the others in tow. A few whispers of "brothel", "girls", and "so weak" could be heard as the giggling group left Law's sights. He sighed, hoping that for just one day they wouldn't fuck this up. Bebo would hopefully keep them on track at least. With that thought in mind he walked out of his bright yellow submarine to do his own shopping.

It was so hot today Jay didn't bother looking at the porcelain temperature gauge that hung on the shop walls before existing Ray's shop. He had gone out earlier to fetch the kid from yesterday, and left Jay to her own devices. Soome caretaker he was to leave her all alone on this miserable island. She hadn't left the sweltering island even though the pull to go back to her foggy home was increasing. Not being sure of Ray's plan left her at a disadvantage; he told her to stay for a bit longer just incase, but never came to fetch her otherwise. It made this sweltering day all the less bearable.

Jay sat in a clear patch of a green grassy field next to the shopping district looking for anything out of the ordinary. It had been a full day since the destruction ransacked the place, but things had mostly gone back to normal. It was strange to her how the citizens didn't seem to care about how part of their island was destroyed, but this was the archipelago; the people had better things to do. Sighing she sipped her Razzleberry lemonade that Ray Ray had gratefully gotten her after everything had settled.

Small white tufts of fuzz came into her line of sight and twitched slightly as they turned this way and that which broke her train of thought. A frantic mummering escaped the strange being she somewhat recognised; boy or girl she wasn't sure but it was obviously lost. The poor, cute thing sniffed the air with slumped depressed shoulders. Jay stood up and walked over to the bear.

Penguin and Sachi ran all around the the packed shopping district in a frantic mess looking for their furry friend. They had sent Jean Bart back to the sub ahead of the with most of the supplies that were on the list. Bebo had been holding onto the extra cash, and had somehow slipped away through the crowds, so they couldn't complete their mission. Law would not be pleased for he was a timely man. Sachi and Penguin shared a worried glance as fear started to seep down the backs of their thin necks. They would be put on cleaning duty...again, and cleaning up after around twenty smelly men in a tight submarine was completely unbearable! How did one lose a giant polar bear?! How could one not find a giant polar bear?! Ugg, stupid bear!

Law was understandably confused at the scene he stumbled upon before him. His first mate sat idly chatting away with Jay the Coward James in a clearing off to the side of the medical shop he had just walked out of. Why hadn't she left the archipelago yet? It was still a dangerous place to stay at the moment, and she ran away at the first sign of trouble yesterday like the coward that became her name sake. He thought she would leave as soon as possible like the other crews, so why was she still here chatting happily with his first mate at that?

He watched his panting team mate take something from Jay's hand and down the yellowish red contents in a giant gulp. Lemonaid? Was it poisoned? Law walked forward calmly shrouded in confidence like a predator approaching an easily scared prey. For some reason he felt as if she would spirit herself away from him once more at just the mere sight of his looming figure. Little did he know that if it wasn't for the fluffy white bear next to her she would have.

Bepo's round ears twitched slightly as nearly silent footsteps banged on his drums begging for his attention. He turned his head away from the conversation he had been having with the girl about what happened after she vanished the other day to see his captain coming out of the tree line next to the shops.

Jay watched as the Captain of the Heart pirates walked over with a lazy giant as if he couldn't care less. His steps slow and aura calm as if the air around him bowed before his presence as if to not worry their large sheathed nodachi resting against his shoulder gave Jay a cause for suspicion. A calm armed man was way more dangerous than a rage filled sword swinging savage; she knew from experience. He meandered over and stood in front of the pair a few feet away as Jay once more held eye contact with the pompous aura'd man.

"Bepo," it was said as a name, but it came out as a stern order. What was going on? Where are the others crew members, the supplies? Why was Coward here?

Bepo heard him loud and clear. "Captain. We got most of the supplies, but…. I got distracted by a scent…. and separated from the group." It was then that noticed the numerous grease covered foil hamburger wrappers laying about in front of the pair. "Jay," the bear motioned to her, and Law's eyes lingered on her being as he spoke, "bought me one and we started talking about female bears. She said she know of an island that's full of them, and the events of the fight yesterday."

Jay was impressed. She had to admit Law's deep voice and piercing eyes were very unnerving, but Bepo had remained astoundingly calm in her opinion. Didn't captains punish their crew for stupid mistakes? His voice remained strictly informative towards his captain, and she almost felt bad that he had unknowing lied to the man. Could he be beat if Law knew Jay paid for all these hamburgers with the money she had stolen off his bear? Would it be possible for her to steal a polar bear to keep him from that pain? As Law's hardened eyes returned to his large crew mate the bear's form shrunk under the pressure and a meek "i'm sorry" sounded from his fuzzy soft muzzle.

Law shifted slightly and squatted down in front of Jay. She glanced up quickly from the patch of prickly grass she had been scrutinizing to meet his steely eyes and tensed a little. She hated the feeling, but she could never get rid of this fear that would slide down into her heart when she felt alone, and having no source of comradery next to her made those unwanted feelings intensify. Maybe she was a coward after all. When Law's lips formed a slow soft smile her heart raced; it scared her even more. She freed her hands of the wrapper and set them in her lap palms up, and ready to flee if necessary. If she had to fight him she would, but having just made somewhat of a friendship with the adorable polar bear sitting patently next to her she wanted to avoid it if at all possible. If worse came to worse all she had to do was move her fingers and the threatening man's head would be on the ground within seconds, or she would be back in Ray's warm comforting abode.

Law realised all the emotions running through her mind as he saw the shift in her demeanor, and knew he must proceed carefully while keeping a keen eye on the posture of his charge. "Good evening James-ya. Thank you for looking after my crew mate".

He was thanking her? How strange. It was just the other day he tried to buy her, and followed her with his eyes everywhere she went like a creepy stalker of the night; for all she knew he could be. What did he want exactly; he got his money back? She nodded to him a 'you're welcome', and got up to leave "See ay Bepo!"

Before Bepo could even raise his pink padded paw to wave goodbye a dark skinned hand shot out and grabbed her left wrist tightly. On instinct Jay turned and roundhouse kicked the man behind her, but the assailant ducked leaving her only accomplishment being an arm twisting into a weird slightly painful angle.

Jay had a sharp glare in her eyes; anger seeped out of her pours in waves of hot hatred. Bebo's eyes widened as he could almost smell the heightened coriander scent of raising bloodlust coming from the kind girl he had been chatting with not moments before. He worried for his captain slightly; What type of switch did his captain flip in the girl?

Her fingers twitched, and Law had a feeling that if he didn't let go she would end him right then and there, but if he did he would never see her again. Quickly he added in a calm tone, "I just want to talk". From his squatting position he could see her tense shoulder muscles relax abet slightly. Looking back to her eyes he was glad he didn't go with his original plan to subdue her and force her to join his crew with threats of pain or dismemberment. Her mismatched eyes held the bloodlust of a starved, frightened, cornered beast ready to turn its predator into prey. How exactly did so much boiling anger come from such a small body? Jay reminded Law of a stray animal; without a master and tight leash there was no telling what she would do. This girl was unpredictable, and that was bad for his plan for her. Looking into her hollowed eyes made him feel like he would be eaten whole, but he always loved a challenge that got his blood boiling.

"Then talk", her voice was cold and calculating nothing like the laughter she showed while conversing with Bepo. Slowly Law let go of her wrist and leaned back to sit on the ground. He placed his nodachi in Bepo's lap for good measure while watching Jay relaxed a little more now that he wasn't carrying such a large weapon, but her eyes never lost their focus; they were trained on his very being. One wrong move on Law's part and she would end this of that he was sure. Why had he wanted to talk all of the sudden? He had grabbed her with intent to do harm that much she could tell through the light purple bruise forming on her wrist. Slowly she sat down across from him a few feet away when he gestured towards the ground. She made sure to keep her palms ready for a quick evacuation. Their eyes locked for a moment before Law parted his lips.


	6. Close Contact

Jay honed in on the Hart pirate captain's velvety dark voice as he spoke; she could feel it pulling her into a dark hole she knew no rope was long enough to help her climb out of. This was dangerous that much she could feel as goosebumps nested on her arms' something about this mad doctor was off. He hit her squarely with a simple request she heard a hundred times over the years, and one she always said no too; even to her smiling idiot of a boyfriend. Flying free like an eagle wasn't that important to her, neither was working apart from a crew though she did enjoy solo work, but she had already been the cause of one pirate crew breaking up and would probably be the cause of it again. It was something she honestly thought would cause her to falling into the ocean's awaiting clutches willingly. Since then she tried not to get close to people; Ray and Ace being the only exception, and even they had to work towards the bonds till no end. Now she was content to let the bright red string of fate tighten exponentially between the three of them.

Law sported a serious face as he proposed, "Join my crew". He fought to keep the stoic look on his face, and the girls eyebrow twitched up in what he assumed to be aggravation as her fingers started to tap a waiting beat on the knee.

Staring eye to eye with a face of complete satisfactory Jay replied with an immediate "Not a chance", and turned to leave the two once again. This recurring game was becoming tiring; and she honestly expected more from the threatening man who seemed relaxed in front of her.

Knowing the actions would spark a fight, and could bring out the blood lust from moments ago, Law waited until she was almost standing before grabbing her wrist like a snake striking it's prey with poisonous fangs before tugging her wrist back sharply. She fell straight backwards; her back connecting to his firm chest harshly as an 'oomph' forced itself out of her collapsed lungs. For less than a second as Jay caught her escaped breath and tried to organize her dizzying thoughts she was sitting in the middle of Law's crossed legs, head pressed against his cotton coded chest with her wrists pinned on either side of his hips behind her by Law's own. It was a position suited to a loving couple causally on a short outing with their...polar bear. However, in the next scarce second before Jay could muster a coherent thought of reaction Law rolled to the side and smashed Jay's body face first down into the itchy green grass. He straddled her waist and used his lower legs to hold down her own before she could start thrashing about. She knew this tantalizing trip would leave a bad taste in her mouth; she just didn't expect it to be the actual taste of dirt. It seemed Sabaody hater her and much as she hated it.

The events happened so fast Jay lost track of her noisy thoughts; they has been thrown into the cyclone of events spinning around her like paper in the wind. Being in intimate situations such as these always frazzled her mind. Was she a pervert? She didn't dwell on that thought as she could feel the trouble bubbling up under her skin. She struggled to lift her head out of the dead patch of grass her face landed in to get a better grasp of the situation, and spit out some grass shards that left a nasty taste in her mouth. Get away. Danger. The thought would be enough to push her mind to focus and relax as her world slowed to a stand still. With her mind now working she closed her eyes and concentrated on the interior of Ray's shop.

She could feel the smooth feeling of the dark sea tree desk she sat by on rainy days. The light in Ray's kitchen was still on from this morning blaring artificial brightness that cut through the darkness. Loud familiar voices from the shop down below bellowed up to the ears. This would do.

Just as she was about to snap her slender fingers she realised they wouldn't move more than a few centimeters; Law's own tattooed fingers were intertwined with hers preventing any kind of retaliation. The thought of Ray's peaceful shop shattered completely as she felt hot breath cascade over the nape of her bare neck rustling the short hairs from their slumber.

"I don't believe that was a question." Law couldn't help the smirk hiding out in his voice as he realised it was quite a bit huskier than he intended. From watching her at the auction house he pieced together that to activate her ability she would have to snap her fingers easily; it wasn't as if she tried to hide it very well. Little did he know that there had been a second condition that he fully obliterated; Jay had to form a calmly detailed picture of what she wanted, or where she wanted to go. It took a lot of practice, and she was quite proud of the fact it only took her a few seconds to activate it. He successfully nullified both conditions in the blink of an eye; it left Jay furiously vulnerable.

Get away. Danger.

One look to her reddening face nearly made him chuckle as if he was a child with a new toy to play with, "Are you feeling...nervous?" The last word he whispered huskily into her ear as he leaned down. A knowing smirk crossing his face, as he took enjoyment in the squirming attempts to escape from under the added pressure of his body.

Don't get Jay wrong. Sure the guy was hot, but that wasn't the issue here; he was an enemy at this point. Beside she was happily taken, and that was the only man who was allowed to be remotely this close to her. "Sh...Shut up!" Her growling stutters did little to intimate the man pinning her to the ground. Uncomfortable; that was what Jay was feeling, and it was the only feeling that would come out of the turmoil parting in her stomach. When you spend most your life staying as far away from people as possible close contact was a giant mind fuck. Sure enough her mind was being fucked.

Law would never admit it out loud, but this was definitely a cure for his boredom; it had been awhile since he picked up a toy he didn't plane to just take apart, or to test new chemical induced illnesses on. Making this girl flustered, he realised, could be an everyday amusement; if the government didn't offer him adequate standing for her head that was.

"So what are you planning to do? Hold me here till I agree to go with you?" Jay was surprised her hot vocal chords didn't betray her as she spoke with an even tone.

Law was so close she could feel the sarcastic rumbling from his lungs as he took a breath of air. "Hmmmm, now there is an idea. How long do you think you would last," He slowly leaned down to whisper in her ear, "with me on top of you."

Bepo glanced around nervously; for some reason he felt like he was watching something he shouldn't be seeing. His captain still looked calm and collected as always, but the playful lazy smirk that kept flirting with the man's face bepo hadn't seen appear in a while. Law was messing around with the poor girl like a child playing with his food before devouring it.

Honestly, this wasn't part of his plan, or even his fully thought out plan B. After subduing the girl he planned to have bebo knock her out so he could steal her heart and use it as a bargaining chip. He knew she wouldn't leave till she got it back; any normal person would think that way. Plus it would give him the leverage over her that he needed for either her corporation or the governments. He didn't calculate however that such a famous underground operative would freeze up at close contact. The fight he was expecting was blown out the water.

The more Jay thought about it the more she knew she would lose to this man. Her body already felt hot as her hastily beating heart overheated her body. The humid air of the day did little to help. "I challenge you Trafalgar Law. To a game." This wasn't the first time Jay used this simple tactic. She offered it many times to pirate crews that wanted to force her to join, although she was usually in a position of higher power, and not already basically captured right off the bat. "Three chances. Starting when you let me go, you have three chances to catch me. If you do I'll join you. I'll follow your orders no questions asked. I'll stay for as long as you see fit. Promise." Her voice was starting to gain its strength back as confidence worked its way through her trembling bones, and for the most part she stopped trying to throw him off. "Plus I won't decapitate any of your crew members."

"I already have you pinned down, why would I realise you now?" It was the obvious question. Why would he realise her? She was dangerous, and not his biggest fan. Untangling himself from her seemed like a death sentence. No, that simply would not work in his favor.

"You have me pinned now, but you can't stay like this forever. As soon as you let me go i'm gone. I'll make sure we never cross paths again; unless you take this deal." Law had a feeling that this meant she would take off his head as her fingers twitched slightly under his.

Who would be faster? All she would have to do is simply snap her fingers; all her had to do was slam his hand into her chest. He had a nagging feeling the plan wouldn't go his way. He couldn't immobilize all ten of her fingers with one hand, and to use his ability he would have to release one of them. "If you get the fuck off me, and win fair and square, i'll submit to you peacefully. I'll be a full fledge member of your crew."

It was an intriguing proposal to Law. If, scratch that, when he managed to win her loyalty would smooth over a few rough spots in his plans. Specifically the scenarios were she would kill him while he slept. He leaned back a bit in thought, and Jay let out a long breath as she was glad his soul patch stopped tickling her neck as he spoke. The added pressure his action caused on her legs and lower back she could have gone without. The girl was tired of being pinned down, and her body was tingling grossly from being this close to another person for so long; it had been a while and she wanted him off! "What's to keep you from running as soon as I release you? You could just leave the island." It was there in the middle of him talking that he noticed a thin silver chain around the girl's neck. He glanced to her wrists and noted that it was the only piece of jewelry she wore. "I'll agree, but I want something from you to make sure you hold up your end of the game."

"Deal. Get the fuck off me already!" Jay could feel her heart starting to hammer against her ribs at an alarming rate, and was fearful of passing out from overworking herself. She made a mental memo to never sit within grabbing range of a stalkerish pirate captain again.

Slowly Law let go of one hand and smiled with slight laughter as he slowly ran his newly freed digits down the soft skin of her right arm because of her twitching ears turning deep red. He felt it was a good thing he agreed to this bet as he had been bored lately, and this already proved fun. Even if this fragile deal fell through he would still take her by force; there was always a way. "I'll take this then," he replied as he fingered the thin silver chain around the girl's neck. He felt her breathing hitch in her throat, and a low growl rumble through her back. Quick as lightning she snapped her fingers and was sitting in front of him not having enough time to recapture Ray's place in her mind. It left Law in an awkward position on all fours over a freshly squashed path of grass which he was not happy about. At least she didn't run like he expected her to. In her mind if she could win this fairly she wouldn't have to deal with his persistent aggravating eyes anymore, and could get on with her life, yet she felt that if she ran he would find her again. At the moment she was running away from more things than she cared for, so adding this man to the list would be nothing but aggravating.

"No. Anything but this," Jay's voice was cold, but the effect she was going for was lost as Law straitened up to see her cheeks puffed up and a red blush forming on her face once more as she refused to make eye contact. He couldn't remember almost laughing this much in such a long time; Coward sure was an amusing plaything.

"Then let the game begin as soon as you wake awake Jay-ya."

"What are you-" Before she could finish her sentence Law was in her face, so close she could see the swimming colors in his eyes, and jolted backwards. Her invaded personal space bubble was so electrified from the abuse the soft whisper of 'Mes" that ghosted over her face nearly drowned out the first spasm of pain. "Wha-"

Law didn't get to hear the rest of her question while he watched her eyes droop as the shine in them diminish slightly. Her hand was to her chest resting over the black hole created there, and as she went to look down her eyelids dropped and she fell to the ground. It seemed the ground and her were becoming great friends.

Law stood slowly and began walking away. "Bepo make sure nothing happens to her before she wakes up. I'm going to go put this in a safe place." Law gave his order, and walked away watching the heart of a coward beat steadily in his hand without so much of a glance in her direction.


	7. First Strike

Waking up Jay felt an impending sense of dizziness like the entirety of a forsaken universe was swimming laps around her throbbing head enticing a fuzzy hurricane of unbalance to raise out of the depths of her estranged mind with foreboding vigor. It was uncomfortable to say the least; she hadn't felt this was since being roped into one of Shanks's surprise drinking parties she always managed to get caught up in. Groaning loudly she rolled off her side and got ready to push herself up. Her body felt weak again, but not like when she wore those accursed sea stone cuffs. It seemed more like her muscles were hanging on the intruding threads of a puppet master almost as if they would float away into the air had they not been attached. Memories of the past nearly made her gag remembering the actual invisible strings that had violated her movements once before; it wasn't a sensation she was particularly fond of experiencing again.

Plopping on the dew hardened ground in a cross legged position she noticed a familiar giant white bear sitting just a few feet away twitching his paws as if he was running a marathon; it was a cute yet confusing site to behold as morning birds chirped in the crisp morning breeze. He was snoring quietly with a small clear green snot bubble forming on the tip of his fuzzy slightly opened- to let the drool run out- snout. Bepo; that was his name she remembered as er head cleared. Everything that had happened of what she assumed was from yesterday started coming back to her in bulk. Letting out a harsh puff of annoyed breath that froze in the air she leaned back on one hand and placed the other to the gaping hole in her chest. Yup she was fucked; readjusting her now grass stained swim top she stood slowly to wake the sleeping bear before heading to Ray's for advice and new clothes.

Law smirked lazily as he glanced once more towards the calmly beating heart resting off to one side of his work desk. It skipped a little with a little jolt, but quickly regained it's slow steady rhythm. Jay the Coward James had finally awoken; the game had began. He sat back in his chair and waited patiently for the heart's pace to pick up once more as she realised it had been replaced with a vast hole, but to his disappointment it remained completely calm. Standing up and reaching out to pick up the heart he went over what he knew about the challenging girl in his head. She would have to be strong physically with her known acquaintances from the New World, had some type of Paramecia devil fruit that allowed teleportation abilities, though it was useless if she couldn't move her fingers, she knew Silvers Rayleigh an extreme influencer of the pirate's playing field, and seemed to have a disdain towards close contact, but for some reason before a few days ago he hadn't heard her name being whispered among other sea barring crews. After putting the heart in a locked compartment he moved to walk out the door of his room; this would be fun for him.

Bebo awoke with a startle as a hushed murmur of his softly spoken name invaded his ears. It wasn't a voice he recognized as his crewmates, and he swiftly sent a spinning kick towards the intruding source. His dark round eyes opened once he felt his kick connect to nothing but cold air. He was ashamed to admit he had forgotten where he was, but once he saw the white haired girl before him he was even more depressed by the fact he fell asleep while on a mission from his captain.

"Uh, hey Bepo", the same smooth voice had him hanging his head in shame as he cleared the sleep from his crusted eyes.

"Good morning Jay", He responded with a deep sigh as he rose to his full height, and towered over the shorter girl.

That was it; they stared at each other awkwardly in silence for a few moments before Bepo ruffled his dew laminated fur to dispose of the excess water. He waved good bye and headed back to the sub quietly to catch a few more hours of sleep. Back in the warmed climate of the ship's interior he slouched against a wall in the navigation room nearly dozing off again; he couldn't recall how long he had watched the passed out human women before his eyes closed inviting his dream island of female bears into focus, but he was eager to get back to it.

Jay sat high in one of the many looming trees in a random grove near the makeshift shores. For the longest time she wondered if she should follow the cuddly bear back to whatever ship the pirates came from, but decided to change back at Ray Ray's into something more fighting friendly before stalking after the docked ships. That would more than likely be where her heart was being kept as pirates rarely had hiding places elsewhere. She didn't like having a hole in her torso; it left an empty feeling in her body and herded her mind to wander the wastes of philosophical reasonings of past depressions. Would she be able to picture her beating heart and have it appear in her hands? What would her heart even look like, and would she have to picture it beating to not kill herself? Maybe the locket was a better target after all; she could easily picture the smiling faces of the man in the lock. She decided against using her power to acquire the missing piece as there was no sure way to be safe about the situation. For one she didn't feel confident that she could find a way to put it back in without harmful surgery, and two the images of a peaceful civilian going about their day to suddenly drop to the ground as his heart disappeared from his chest popped into her mind. She sighed banging her head back against the rough tree trunk bark behind her for the tenth time and sat back wondering where she should go for now as she had yet to find a ship with any bright jumpsuit wearing crew. She would find her heart soon, after all her heart's captor needed to come to her sooner or later. In a game of cat and mouse Jay always prefered zipping out of the reach of claws; there wasn't a reason she would have to play cat unless the game ended and her heart wasn't returned, but if that happened the Dark Doctor would have more than just an enraged thief to worry about.

Sighing once more she stood up on the solid branch and disappeared; guess she better let Ray know about this turn of events if he was back at the shop now. Not that he would help her out or anything until the bet was over; she grimaced as she knew he would just laugh in her face.

The smoothness of the stained wood numbed her fingertips as she drummed her fingers across the surface of Ray's work desk. When she arrived yet again Ray was nowhere to be seen. Likely, he was out coating ships somewhere in one of the harbor's docking buildings; a delicate hand rose to her lips as a small chuckle fought its way too the open air around her. That man never did his work he always pushed it off too his assistant; that poor women. He was prolly out gallivanting with that straw hat kid. Sadly, that brash women was nowhere to be seen either. Jay needed to tell someone about the contest in case things went sour. A ship sinking feel engulfed her stomach as her insides churned in worry; she hadn't gotten this foreboding feeling since before she went into hiding. This might be a bet she could lose as her intuition was rarely off the mark; if that was to be the case she would have to let a certain shaggy haired jerk who hadn't written her back in months know that she might be joining a pirate crew, and might need to be sprung from one. As she grabbed a black feathered quill and liquid ink box thoughts of those she missed filled her head leaving a lingering sense of loneliness, yet her eyes became alive with the growing challenge she faced.

Law strolled around casually looking through the faces appearing in the sea of meandering villagers. She wouldn't be walking around outside so early in the game; she wasn't stupid, and when Law questioned Bepo as he arrived back to the sub much like the bear, he learned, Jay had an extreme dislike of the heat. The temperatures were currently rising into the hottest part of the day, and he knew she would be hiding away from the burning rays that beat the surface of the island. Luckily for him, Bepo had also basically told him where to find the thief as she had given away valuable information during the two's talk, "a wooden ship coating building that would look much better as a bar in my opinion", as his first mate recited his earlier companion's preachings. Having met the man who ran the shop at the auction house he had no doubt that Jay's safe house was Silvers's boat shop. A place where her monster of a companion would no doubt send him off forcefully if he wasn't careful; a stake out was in order. How interesting it would be if Law managed to defeat Silvers; it would certainly attest to his abilities. A simple smirk formed on his lips at the thought as even intelligent men could day dream.

Finally done with the unaddressed letter Jay headed outside into the humid environment she detested while sliding the crinkled rolled up envelope into a small clear tube, and let a shrill high pitched whistle pass through her tongue lapped lips. The noon time sun bounced off her white hair giving off a nearly blinding aura. Law squinted to watch as the glowing white was cut off suddenly by a shadow which was accompanied by the sound of flapping wings.

Red feathered wings drew in close to a body before extending in tiny flaps as the creature descended onto the girl's head reflecting sunlight in her place. It's black under belly effectively cutting off the warmth the young girl received from the floating heat source in the sky. She grinned up at the small blood colored bird.

Law had never seen anything like the beast before: six long maroon red wings, a long thin tail, a dark fur-like underbelly, and what seemed like retractable razor talons; he came to the conclusion that it had to be an unknown specimen from the new world. After he got the girl maybe he would go after the bird? Dissecting the thing and learning of its evolutionary traits might give away secrets of the harshness of new lands to come. Slowly Law slid his hands out of his deep coat pockets; it had been a while since he had something new to play with, and this toy just keeps getting more and more interesting. Lately all he had found were astray animals, and inexperienced marines to experiment on. The only thing they were good for were testing poisons, and target practice which got incredibly boring most dragging days out at sea. A twitch of movement brought the man in the shadows out of his thoughts, and he watched as the outlaw's soft lips upturned in a gentle smile. The view gave him second thoughts that only lasted mere seconds; this woman seemed fond of the animal that roosted in her hair with an almost loving grace. She looked nothing like the fierce challenger on stage whose cold eyes murdered a man right in front of him, but Law had a feeling if he tried to capture the animal she would be that monster once more. For him it was an interest prospect. When going after someone whose main strength is outsmarting their opponent getting them riled up enough to throw logic out the window was the best course of action.

Two of the six red wings flapped against the sky creating larger shadows on the ground below as a chirpy, "I missed you mama. I missed you", sounded out around the desolate field behind the bird's yellowed beak never moved as the child like voice surrounded the girl causing Law to glance around for another person's presence. It strangely seemed he was the only one hiding in the tree line.

Jay chuckled and and reached up the pet the bird on his small feathered head softly, "I missed you to Kobun!" The bird, apparently named Kobun, settled down slightly while retracting his outstretched wings. Jay held out her arm horizontally for the bird to skip down her shoulder to rest on her wrist as he fluffed up with a shake. "Do you know where Daddy is?"

Kobun didn't know much of the strange human language people spoke to him in, but he did know mama was the one in front of him, and daddy was the one he just left. Eyeing the clear tube he was familiar with he tilted his head and bobbled up and down chirping loudly, "daddy! daddy", in that childlike voice he had grown accustomed to using. He had delivered that small glass container before and knew the job he was to be tasked with. Kobun was a smart bird; after all he had to make mama and daddy proud! To jay the bird looked like he was dancing to some strange unknown music, but Kobun loved the small jobs his makeshift family tasked him with and it made him excited for the candid adventure. "Message! Message!"

Jay grinned down at the small messenger who had adopted himself into her life as a sort of son some year ago. Her days were rather eventful back then; the time they first met was a happy mess. Smoothing back the soft crown that stuck up on his head she cooed to him like the mother he made her feel like, "Such a smart boy you are." The words of praise from his mama had him flustered as he puffed up his feathers once more and ducked his cute face inside them. Kobun always did this when embarrassed; Jay had always thought that if kobun were human he would be blushing.

"Here you go Kobun. Fast, fast, to daddy!" Jay slipped the message bottle into the little rope around his neck making sure that when it fit in the makeshift holder it wasn't too restricting for him. She brought him close to her face and lightly kissed the top of his head. In response he gave a loud chirp, and snuggled into the feeling of her warmth and affection. "Love you mama! Love you mama!" Jay blushed with thoughts of how he learned that phrase thanks to an annoying black haired pirate she greatly missed; an annoying black haired pirate whom had yet to message her back! With that he spread all six of his exotic wings to take flight; it was always a beautiful sight.

Kobun was gone in the blink of an eye; Jay's head snapped around frantically as her mothering instincts went haywire. Kobun never took flight; he only expanded his wings, and yet he was gone. As her eyes narrowed in on the tree line to her right while a small pebble dropped in front of her with a plump into the wind blown grass. "Mama! Mama!" Kobun's scarily realistically human voice filled the air with rising panic making Jay's temperature double due to anger. He flapped his wings wildly in panic as he hung upside down in the unknown man's grip, taloned feet bound by the assailant's tattooed hands. "Mama! Mama!" His cries got more desperate as he realised he couldn't wiggle his way free; she could feel her mind escalating with thoughts of malice.

Jay turned to see Law stroll out of the woods casually as if coming to meet an old friend, but Jay was friend he quickly realised this as her aura clouded red in rage. One hand helping balance his prized nodachi on his shoulder while the other held onto Kobun's feet he came to a stop in front of. Kobun's wide scared eyes and terror stricken squacks clashed against the calm demeanor of his retainer. Jay's own monochromatic eyes hardened instantly. All she could do was stare at her god child struggling in the vice of a stranger's grip. She could see Law's lips stretching slowly into a confident smirk as words that were no doubt unplayful banter poured out of his mouth, but everything went mute for the women in front of him due to the desperate cries from her animalistic son. Her body's senses dulled to a silent thumping in the back of her consciousness. Her mind was reeling with thoughts of the world whizzing around her, but she couldn't comprehend any of the going ons as rage replaced the blood in her veins; finally she charged.


	8. Failed

Her disorderly mind seemed to scream out in a ferocious cry completely eclipsing all coherent thought by encasing it with animalistic instinct. Not one sound dared to interrupt her rational mind in far of the blackwater backlash it would surely bring on. No sound came from her chapped parted lips even though she could hear the rising screeches clear as a spring morning while it rose the thin hairs on her goose bump dashed arms and raced against her stampeding heart. Both darkened stained hands of the tick-tocking clock stood still in anticipation of the actions to come. The girl's solidified liquid eyes hardened into ice colored stones of rage trained on the lanky pirate captain in front of her.

Law watched in silent anticipation as the gastrocnemius muscles of the girls legs flexed threateningly as her bare knees bent to lunge like a panther cornering prey. All appeared to be forgotten to her as he hoped, and he watched the madness replace the calculatory expression on her face. Rage was as great a challenge to overcome as it was a powerful weapon to be used. Within the time space of a blink the girl was upon him aiming a solid round house kick to his head. He dodged easily by squatting down out of the way. This wasn't the first time he faced an opponent hell bent for his head, and surely wouldn't be the last. From his angle below her he could see the soleus in her foot lock as the body above it pivoted around. He rolled backwards out of the way, making sure to tuck the flopping bird to his gut as he did so, just as a well aimed kick came down and cracked the ground where its heel landed. That could have been his head. He'd have to watch out for those legs of hers.

As Law stood back up a few feet away as his eyes locked on the girl's own. "Let. Him. Go," there was nothing except malice in her voice, but her eyes started to focus again. Her rage was ebbing away. Much too soon for Law's pleasure. He was hoping rage would blind her, and make her an easy target to take out; it was by luck that she didn't just take off his head when he first emerged from the shadowed tree line. He had been counting on that. As for all his combat experience he had never seen an opponent calm down so quickly; the rate at which she regained her composure could only mean she had an ace up her sleeve.

His analyses of the women standing before him came to an abrupt halt as a shrill, "mama! Mamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-," rang through the air. Law dropped both the bird and his nodachi as his knees hit the slightly damp grassy ground. As he leaned on his hands to catch himself he watched the overwatered weeds below him spin into oblivion. He gripped his head through his hat in a vain attempt to steady his mind, and he could feel a slight trickle of sticky wetness drip down from his ringing ears. Lifting up his hand slowly he wiped the blood off his cheek. What just happened happened?

Kobun flapped gently up to his mama and rested on her shoulder. "Sorry, mama. Sorry," the bird nuzzled her neck with soft feathers and kept repeating the phrase. Tilting his head to watch the trickle of blood slowly cascade down her neck as it reflected off his black beady eyes. "Mama?" his voice was sad. Was she mad at him?

Jay raised her hand to pat the small bird on his bobbing head, the feeling of soft feathers calming the last of the blood lust she held within. She had him; he was safe. Though if she had been any closer to Law she would be on her knees to. Kobun's sonic scream was no joke. "Good boy", as she talked she could hear her voice in bits and pieces. At least her ears were starting to work again. Law on the other hand she could see was still down; it would take awhile for his eardrums to regrow. Perfect time to send Kobun away. "Go find papa, Kobun". As she spoke she never took her eyes off Law who slowly started to stand on wobbly feet.

"Yes, Yes! Papa. Papa!" Kubun flapped high into the air and gave one last goodbye to his mother before he took off in the direction of his adopted dad. He flew with such speed that there was a loud popping sound and a ring of changing air currents around where he use to be. Not much was faster than the speed of sound.

"What? Was that?" It was Law's broken voice that pierced the silence. Jay walked out to him and knelt down as his eyes retrained on her. He become more aware of his weakened presence when his neck muscles strained as she lifted his head to meet her. He wasn't a threat in this slouched form that promised anything, but a well thought out fight. Right now he was easy prey; nothing more than a man who stepped out of place.

Her eyes were softer again, but her voice still held more than enough resentment to get her point across. "Never use someone against me like that again". She was so close to his face he could almost taste the cold mint of her breath, but the ringing in his ears prevented much more than muffled sounds from reaching his comprehension. His muscles we shaking from unseen trauma. Why did the cry from that bird shake him so bad? He couldn't even stand let alone hear what the girl was going on about, but never once did he let his face betray him.

"Kobun ate a devil's fruit. Something that lets him control sound. He uses it to talk to us, but it's also a great defence against assholes like you." There was a pause as she started walking away, "It should wear off in about an hour or so. You're body's nerves are rippled with sound waves at the moment," almost as if an afterthought she turned to smirk, "you know I'm starting to get use to you on your knees." With that she disappeared into the tree line. Law punched a nearby tree, humiliated. His plan was greatly turned over, and face was lost in front of his victim. While walking back he wondered if this was all worth it.

A man sat in his cell chained to the wall. He stopped thinking long ago, and awaited his time to die with his head down. It was his fault he got caught, and he didn't expect anyone to come play his knight in shining armor. He didn't deserve the life he had lived anyway; all those happy moments being greatly wasted on him. A clink across the bars alerted him to a disgruntled visitor. It was never a good thing when Magellan showed his ugly mug. The towering man unraveled a ruffled up piece of paper from his pocket, and cleared his voice to get the other man's attention. " _Dear Ace,_ " at the first two words ace felt his blood go cold. A letter? For him? There could only be one person. Had they found her? Was she here, in this prison? As much as he wished to hold her close again, he would never want her here. As much as he wanted to overreact and blurt out questions about her he kept his face as stoic as the sea stone that cuffed his wrist.

Magellan started over, " _Dear Ace, Whats up? When are you ever going to reply to my messages? You ass! Ass! Ass! Ass! I miss you! Anyway hows things on your end? I lost to another bet with Ray again. Stupid cheet. Truth is I ran into a bit of trouble. You know that bet I made you when we first met? I made it again with another pirate captain, but I'm not feeling so confident. Not that I plan to lose! Thats what you taught me right? To never give up. Wherever you are I hope life is going well for you. Tell the family I said hi! And answer me back Dammit! Give Kobun a treat for me! Love you -Jay."_

Jay. She was the first to enter his thoughts after so long of preparing to forget all who he loved dearly; it would hurt less that way. Hopefully she would move on after all was said and done, and find someone truly deserving of her. Hopefully she would be in one of those uninhabited islands when the deed was done, and could just go on thinking he abandoned her. Her anger didn't seem nearly as bad as the pained look on her face that was already beginning to take shape behind his eyelids. The last thing he needed was for her to come to his rescue. There was no way she could take on everyone here. She wasn't the fighting type; at least not anymore.

"This Jay, is this Jay James? Is she your lover?"

Ace snorted, "Jealous?"

"Of a dead man? It's a shame though; I know someone who would offer you a plea deal for her wear'bouts."

"Over my dead body!," Ace couldn't help the venom that laced his voice, or the anger boiling over. Did they really think he would turn on the people he loved?!

With that Magellan held out his hand and a guard who sat off to the side plopped something into it. Immediately Ace's eyes filled with exciting tears. The brimming water clouded his view of the small red tuffs of feathers resting on his hand. It did little to hide the lifeless eyes of his adopted son. How could he let his happen? Why? Wasn't his death enough? Oh Kobun.


	9. Family Part 1

As a last mocking jester the disgruntled guard threw Kobun's lifeless form though the gapped bars towards Ace's slouch yet attentive body. The soft thump that sounded was all the tied man could hear. It enveloped his mind, and gave the feeling of drowning in the ocean which would almost be a more peaceful way to die then the stripping away of his heart layer by layer. Helpless was something he had never felt before; the pain left an unwanted taste in his mouth much like the saltiness of the oceans before his throat began to close up tightly with unspoken sobs. Kobun was the living link between Jay and him; seeing him dead only served to further personify the severed bonds he know to come. For the first time since he came to his departing destination he let the tears freely run down his cheeks.

The guards lips moved in more lathered mockery, but Ace was already too far gone in his own mind to realise what he had been saying. His eye's traced everything around the enclosing room reluctant to see the truth before him until finally having no other choice but to fall onto the lifeless form his eyes could no longer leave. His silent tears over flowed a dam of held back memories he had been trying to forget.

Pops had sent him to a small, boring, fairly desolate island on the edge of the new world. It was rarely visited by marines or pirates alike, and the locals bustled about quietly into their prospective presumably mundane jobs. What was the infamous Fire Fist Ace of the Whitebeard Pirates doing in this dusty little town? Even the villagers stared him down like he was a troublemaker to their little abode. In all rights he probably was; things never went as smoothly as planned. Not that he minded the extra excitement; in his eyes this sleepy diminutive place could use a little spark to get going.

Ace sighed for the thirteenth time that morning; counting them was all he could do to stay awake. He was on a recruiting mission for the White Beards, and wasn't allowed to go home until he completed it. He tried to return home two weeks ago only to be laughed at by the crew for failing. All Pops had to say was that this person was hard to find, and gave him directions to this island. Damn was he right. Nothing stood out here, and he was beginning to wonder if this was all just punishment for when he got drunk a few months ago and lit one of the fleets masts on fire while doing party tricks. There was no clue to lead him to this 'Coward' Pops wanted to find after all. No one even told him what this guy looked like! Walking down the dirt street he silently made plans to beat this annoyingly elusive man before returning home.

The smell of fresh pancakes flowing out the door of a building next to him and into the streets put a pause to his torturous thoughts. Placing hand on his now empty feeling stomach he walked inside careful to take in the exits for his next dine and dash excapade.

Sitting at the bar and swinging his feet back and forth lightly a pretty young waitress walked up to him. She had long blonde hair, green eyes, and gigantic titts. She definitely did well in the looks department, and he did need a place to stay for the night. She looked like the type who would easily fall for bad boys, so he plastered his face with charms he knew girls would never be able to resist.

As the blonde girl walked up to him she took him in, looking him up and down like a piece of tasty meat. As she got closer her hips swayed wider, and her full lips parted in a seductive pout. With a wink she surprised Ace by abruptly turning and walking into the kitchen where he could vaguely hear her giving orders to the cook.

"See anything you like?" A new voice sounded over his shoulder in a husky whisper.

He jumped slightly as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. She had short white hair, and mismatched eyes. Kind of like a cat he use to play with back on the island he grew up on; at least until that kitten turned into a giant tiger and tried eating his face. The similarities of the two immediately put him on edge. Ultimately, he had to admit the girl was kind of cute if not a bit boyish for his taste. She raised one trimmed eyebrow as he finished unconsciously checking her out. It was then that he registered the question he asked him a question, but all he could stammer out was an 'ummmm' noise.

"Start you with a drink then?" she asked, stormy eyes cold, voice holding a new lazy ring.

"Waters fine." As she went to the back to presumably fill a glass the blonde from before walked out with a sly glance his way to which he grinned back. Looks like he wouldn't be sleeping on the sandy beach again tonight after all. Good looking women were hard to come by while sailing alone. Thankfully this one was just his type: wide hips that swung with every step, long eyelashes that batted against her full cheeks, and giant tits! Tonight would be fun; he could worry about this mission later. It was time for a well deserved break.

"Anything you want, or are you just going to eye fuck Marly?"

Ace choked on the order he had ready in his head, and pounded his chest until he could greedily chug down oxygen again. "Um, how bout' some of those pancakes?" He practically yelled with a wide grin to cover up his evident shock. He hadn't sensed the small girl at all; this slow boring island must have dulled his senses.

She wasn't put off by his bad acting at all, "plain or fruit?" Again a mundane almost too tired to be bothered gruff voice came out of the young girl.

"Both"

"What kind of fruit?"

"All"

The girl gave him a slightly agitated look, "How many?" Who did this guy think he was; the manager? It had been a long day, and if this joke sounding order was beginning to grade on her nerves, but she kept her cool, professionally stoic looked like a well practiced mannequin. If it wasn't for Marcy this busy seaside restaurant would never have been her job of choice.

"Umm… all you can eat?"

"I'll keep them coming then. Is that all?"

Normally Ace would flirt, and usually end up with more free extras in reward for his dashing personality; not that he ever really paid in the end, but the girl's monotone voice and attitude was off putting. He had met a few miniscule pirates with the same vibe, yet they had never remained civil for long. "I'll let you know if I need anything." She nodded wordlessly and walked to the back to place his order a frown still etched into her childish features.

Turning to look for the blonde he was pleasantly surprised to see her already walking up to him; an attractive smirk settled itself on her face as she darted a light pink tongue to moisten her plump lips. She leaned over the counter across from him giving him an open view of her v-lined cleavage. "How ya do'n huh? Treating our Jay nice are ya?" Her flirting voice was toned and light, but held roughness that promised experience.

Jay watched from the kitchen's cut out window as Marcy started her seductive flirting routine with the attractive tanned man with the annoying order. All those freckles made him cute, but having a bare chest and abs made the man hot. She wondered how long Marcy would keep at it as she stared down at the first plate of steaming plain perfectly round pancakes the chef handed her moments before. She didn't want to interrupt the two; flirting would generate more tips at the end of the night. More tips equals rent money, and to Jay money was always an appealing factor. The man's food had been ready for over five minutes now, but her roommate was goding extra cash from her newest victim, so she would have to heat it back up before walking out. What were best friends for?

If any of these poor unsuspecting men thought they had a chance with Marcy they were sadly mistaken. No matter how convincing she could act for money Marcy had always had a thing for other girls. It gave them both a good laugh to share while walking back to their apartment. Their victim's money nestled deeply in their pockets, or in their hands as bottles of ale.

As Marcy walked away Jay headed back out with his mildly warm plate of golden pancakes sending her best friend a knowing look as they crossed paths. Marcy smirked back when Jay rolled her laughing eyes.

Ace's straying vision once again returned to the boyish girl before him as she set his food on the marble countertop, and went to tend to the other customers without another word. She wasn't the most friendly waitress he had ever met, but he decided to play Karma and kept her busy running back and forth between the kitchen and his table as he shoveled food from his plate into his face like there would be no tomorrow. The man's bottomless pit seemed to be expanding with each mouthful never able to fill the bottomless void. He almost felt bad for not intending to pay the girl let alone tip her. As he sent her back for another plate he saw his chance of escape. Passing the blonde waitress a small wink he abruptly shot up out of his set and ran out the old western styled doors. Behind him he heard Macy's voice raise to screeching levels, "Jaaayyyyy!"

Ace didn't know what happened; one moment he was running down the alley way by the edge of a clothing shop, next he apparently ran head first into a hardwood surface. Stumbling back his heel caught on something hard and his ass hit the gray tiled floor with a loud 'oomf'. A heavy weight placed itself upon his chest knocking the air out of him like that time he had been dropped into the ocean while pranking Luffy. As his brown eyes slowly opened with a pounding headache he looked up to see his white haired waitress sitting on his chest. She was heavier than she looked.

"So what's a pirate like you doing here? Didn't take the white beards as the dine and dash type." Her voice was full of mockery, and a slight hint of laughter. The blonde from before laughed openly at his predicament. Maybe he would end up sleeping alone; it was easy to see they were on the same side. The side he underestimated as normal wait staff.

Slowly he grinned and sat up on his elbows quietly wondering how he got back inside in old timey establishment. Did they pull him back threw a side door in the alley? "Look I can appreciate a pretty face, but can you get off me. I like to take things slow; if you know what I mean." Voice cocky he flashed the girl a playful wink as he measured her body with roaming eyes.

Fast as lighting the girl's cheeks burned cherry red, and she jumped off giving him a swift kick in the side for good measure. Ace grunted over in pain, but grinned at her nonetheless. Without another word he turned and shot himself out the door. As fast as his legs could go he ran making sure to avoid the alleyway with the perpetual side door this time. There was no way he was paying that bill; he literally didn't have a single beli on him! Not a second after that thought occurred he did he find himself down on the accursed floor in the diner again. Something strange was going on here. This time the girl's boot was pressed firmly to his throat seething with unspoken pressured threats.

"You pirates aren't thinking of causing trouble around here are you?" With malice lingering in her voice, and the added pressure to the foot pinning his neck the town people began to stand up from their booths. Ace thought they would all run out the door away from the fight soon to occur, but to his surprise they all pulled out weapons. Guns, swords, knives, name it and it was here. Seemed like these people weren't afraid to get a little dirty. If he didn't have to stay on this island to find his target he would have taken them up on that offer.

The white haired girl leaned forward and rested her arm on her knee, "We don't take kindly to people starting shit in our town." As if to agree the town's people's weapons began to hum with sounds of guns being loaded, and blades being drawn.

"No trouble! I'm just looking for some guy. He goes by the name Coward. Ya know of him by chance?" Jay was put off by this pirate. Not only was he looking for her, but he never stopped grinning, almost as if he enjoyed being surrounded by the threat of death. This guy had an ace up his sleeve. Then again so did she.

His grin must have been contagious because she let out a small one of her own. "Ya I know a thing or two about Coward", slowly she let him up, "No money right? You'll wash dishes and i'll help you find...him. Ok?"

"You!" He stood with an accusing finger pointed at her, "You know where he is? Tell me!" The answer to finding this elusive ass guy was right in front of him! He was so close to being able to go home. He looked towards Jay with an excitedly hopeful face only to be put down by the cold look in her eyes. Information was something he had to work for; apparently now so was his food.

"Dishes." With that she turned around to walk back in the kitchen. "The dish pit is over…" As she began pointing things out she turned around and saw him sprawled out on the floor again. This time asleep. She walked over and gave him an aggravated kick the the side, but he didn't budge. Shrugging she looked towards Marcy who gave raise of her shoulders back and helped drag him into the kitchen.

Little did they know this would be the start of their little family.


	10. Family Part 2

The day passed quietly for the young pirate since Kobun's departure until Jay was suddenly on the run from Law's men. Their captain was nowhere to be seen thus far, but they had ambushed her at Ray's shop as she returned to check in on the graying man. The jumpsuit wielding thugs continued to attack her throughout the day everywhere she went. No peaceful naps, no relaxing cups of tea, and a newly building headache courtesy of the ever smiling sun.

Currently she rested on the softened dull brown bark under a shady canopy of other longing tree limbs; for a breath she wondered about Ace. Honestly, it wasn't the time to be acting like a lovesick puppy, but for some reason lately he never left her mind; which was unusual and forced a small knot in her stomach to develop. There was still no reply to her letters; that had been the third one she sent out in two weeks! It usually took him a while to reply, but never this long. She'd have to punish him for the worry lines created by such a long stretch of wordless days. He might be one of the Whitebeards, but generally he was never that busy. Was this "business" he had to attend to really that demanding? She hadn't read anything in the papers as of yet to clue her in on his wear abouts. Perhaps she could track dow-

Snap!

A thinning branch below her splintered alerting her to an intruding presence down below as it fell straight into the arms of a familiar fluffy white bear. Oddly, he didn't scream, or grunt, or whatever it was polar bears did when surprised; He just looked up and squinted his beady dark eyes. The log trap was set a good thirty stories up, and normally would knock a man out for a good couple days at least. Another jumpsuit came out into the clearing and peered up the tree where his comrade was staring. Jay waved a bony hand sarcastically towards the pair, as she jumped to a different branch and began to out run them, again. She would just snap herself away to somewhere far, but somehow Law already mapped out every place she frequented around town, and all her teleporting tricks had been faulted by appearing by other members of his crew. A few times she saw his crew pestering the townspeople about information when she tried to get a drink, and other times she had to fight off his men when she stepped into a restaurant to eat; the owners weren't happy and didn't serve her due to the damages. It was starting to get ridiculous. Hiding in a bush and taking their heads off one by one started to sound more and more like a good idea, but being a cold blooded murder because of annoyance was a path she wisely chose not to go down. After this was all over she planned to go back into hiding; it was much more relaxing. Unwanted attention was something she didn't need, or want, ever. Why couldn't people leave her alone? Why did she always listen to Ray?! She was raised by a madman.

Sighing Jay jumped branch to branch relishing the feel of the cold breeze on her cheeks. Jumping down onto the shoulders of yet another hatted man she pushed off gently, landing safely a few feet away before he face planted the ground. Law told her he was looking for strong people to join his crew, but so far all she ran into were weaklings; he'd never make it to the New World with a team like this. She crouched down next to the unconscious guy to dig through his pockets. Finding his wallet she poofed a large black pen from her home desk and wrote 'Thank You' in giant bold letters on the man's forehead. If they were really trying to catch her they really shouldn't have worn bright orange jump suits; thats was just stupid in terms of camouflage. Yeah they still had a ways to go. That's the tenth wallet she stole today, for a total of a meager 45 beli. Today was just becoming...disappointing.

Little did she know two rather conspicuous people followed her closely dressed as normal citizens apart from their easily recognizable hats. Hands deep in their pockets Sachi and Penguin tailed their charge like an undercover detective, because that made it seem better than saying they stalked a chick throughout the island. Accidentally snickering as David's face hit the ground from a roundhouse kick they quieted themselves before snailing their crew members an update on their target's location. David sent them a harsh glare before he, like so many others, passed out on the damp grass. Shrugging as she yet again took the meager allowance Law granted they pressed on with their mission: notify captain when the prey had lost the energy to fight back; which didn't look like any time soon. With Coward running into more crew members than they hoped for Penguin wished she tired out soon, yet she just wiped sweat from her brow and moved to the next victim. Captain Law would be patient, but he couldn't wait forever.

Currently Law sat in the captain's quarters of his submarine going through papers he found on Jay the Coward James. Apparently she had stolen upwards of 30,000,000 beli worth of cash and jewels over the years, was responsible for the deaths of two nobles, and countless marines. That particular article had a picture of her, a little younger, holding a man's decapitated head by the hair and grinning like madman. He couldn't imagine what set her off on that killing spree. To him she seemed like the type who would rather run away from a fight. That was right before she went into hiding it seemed, as she slowly vanished from headlines in later dates. All in all not much new information was undiscovered about the girl. A puzzle would relieve the staggering boredom Law had been tasked with lately, and she was as good as any.

He glanced towards the heart that sat on top of his desk. It had been beating at a steady pace all evening, but now was almost jumping from the container. Whoever she ran into she was having a harder time taking them down. "Report", he commanded into the odd looking snail.

"Currently fighting Bepo!" Penguin answered after the first ring with hushed whispers. Her heart beat faster; his first mate was putting up a good fight it seemed. Slowly he rose from his chair and grabbed his nodachi on the way out the door. Lazy smirk already sliding into it's rightful place.

Jay had been lazing around in the grasses in a more desolate grove. No matter where she went Law's men would jump her, or vice versa. Restaurants she frequented, her apartment, the shop, the landing docks, they showed up absolutely everywhere! It was almost dusk for god's sake! How many men did Law have; surely not enough to cover the whole island? She had a sneaking feeling that a few of them were repeat offenders as their foreheads were swiped with black streaks and no money was to be found in their tattered wallets.

The flapping of wings above turned her thoughts upwards where she watched the strange birds fly to and from. It hadn't been Kobun sadly. Seeing no immediate threat she let her mind wander back into a moment of calming peace.

Ace followed her for weeks after he found out Jay had information on the "man" he was looking for. This girl was irritating! All she would say were things like "you're really close to finding Coward", or "you've actually already spoke to the thief! Idiot!" Honestly, this woman was starting to grind on his last nerve! He was debating beating it out of her; though, Marco would never let him live down kicking the shit out of a girl. It always left bad taste in his mouth after he dealt with women, but sometimes it had to happen, and it seemed like it might just be one of those times.

Ace walked behind Jay as they walked along a cliff side. She was looking towards the sparkling ocean with a far away nesting in her eyes; the salty breeze ruffling her messy obscenely white hair. He was sure that if she grew it out she would be sure to turn heads, but for now everyone looked at her trying to tell if she was a pretty boy or a girl. He shook himself out of those thoughts. Now was not the time! This women was infuriating!

"You're weird," came the monotone voice of the female who occupied his thoughts causing red to swell next to his widening grin.

"Yeah, well….you're weirder!" He yelled holding an accusing finger toward her. All she did in response was keep walking with a small snort. The ass. As he followed her, hands deep in his pockets with a hunched back due to the brooding atmosphere following him around the island, he saw a young bird fall from a nest by the tree line. He chirped and flew back beyond the leaves only to be plopped back on the ground again. Ace decided to leave him be. Survival of the fittest would be taught to him sooner or later, and he had bigger birds to pluck so to speak. The biggest bird being right infro-Where did she go?! Having a silent heart attack he whipped his head around to look for her only to find her falling out of the same bushy tree as that small red bird. A screaming angry chirp came from the tops of the trees after them. A large red bird at the top had six wings all flared up in warning as it sounded out it's anger. The smaller version flew back only to be knocked to the ground once more with a flick of her wings before she disappeared back into the brush.

The small girl turned to look at the small bird sitting on the ground next to her only to find it staring back at her; already a sense of comradery was forming between the two. They blinked at each other slowly. "What a bitch," Jay commented to the tiny thing. It seemed to ruffle its feathers in agreement making it look like a pissed of ball of red wool. Ace was left off to the side wondering why he was left following a bird whispering nut case around the island.

"Bitch, bitch," the bird chirped after her. Jay looked flabbergasted for a split second before throwing her head back and laughing. To Ace's ears it sounded like the island's morning bells, but his face just took on its characteristically annoyed characteristics that seemed to be becoming permanent the longer he stayed by the madwoman's side. Her stoic face enlightened in happiness in comparison. He had to admit he wouldn't mind seeing this other side of her more often; it was a good look for her. With a small blush that found its way to his cheeks- without his knowledge yet again- he began walking towards the odd couple.

"I think I like you, strange talking bird. What's your name?" Ace's footsteps paused in their advances and he looked at Jay with a raised eyebrow. Was she really going to sit here and talk to a bird instead of tell him where Coward was?!

"Name! Name!," the small voice spoke.

"No. No. Your name," She pointed to herself, "Jay", she pointed to Ace, "Ace", finally she pointed to the bird and left it an open question. A large sweat drop formed on Ace's face, and the bird just tilted his head in confusion.

"I don't think he has one", Ace pipped in, breaking up their awkward silent staring contest. At least he wasn't the only one to think she was crazy.

"Well then let's name him." Jay responded as Ace squatted down next to her. He wasn't likely to escape this situation anyway.

He picked the bird up gently, "How about Koko," he suggested.

"Gross! How about Matsu!" Jay commented.

"Like thats any better!" Ace yelled, "Mimi!"

"It's a boy! Katsu!"

"You don't know that! Kodi!" Ace's face lit up, "Or better yet Little Pops!"

The argument went on for a good half hour, and the small winged creature watched the two beings in front of him shout out words and tackle each other. They were a strange pair to the bird, yet their playful bickering comforted him in some weird way.

"Marco!" At Jay's suggestion Ace stopped mid tackle and landed on his face. That was perfect! He could see that priceless look on the phoenix's face as he introduced him to a smaller version of himself. It would be to die for! Though, before he could manage to finally agree his stomach growled one out for him. He smiled sheepishly a Jay, and the small bird opened his beak and let out a copy of the sound of Ace's stomach movement. Jay just laughed and reached into her bag; pulling out the lunch she prepared. When she had done so Ace hadn't realized.

"I brought some Okayu, and Meat buns. Help your selves!"

"Kobun! Kobun!" The bird squawked as he hopped from one foot from the other. Ace and Jay smiled at each other as the bird continued to fuse the two words together.

Ace handed the newly named Kobun part of the meat bun he had yet to devour. "Here ya go Kobun."

The bird pecked at it skeptically. "Papa, Papa!" He squawked happily.

Jay fell over laughing holding her sides. Him? A father! Now that was a thought. Tiny trouble making, shirtless, Aces running around terrorizing the town with freckled evil little grins. It was too much! Ace had his brothers, and his crew that was the only family he would ever need.

"Mama, Mama!" Kobun cried at the sight of Jay on the ground and flopped over to her worriedly, "Mama?"

Ace choked on part of his meat bun, and pounded his tanned chest until it dislodged from his throat onto the ground. At least he'd have something to blame his reddened face on this time. Jay glared at him. "Kobun. I am not your Mama," she grinned, "Go bug you're papa."

"Papa, Papa!" Kobun took off towards Ace and he stared at the small six winged bird that blankly blinked up at him from his lap.

"Go find Mama," he commanded. Kobun flew back to land Jay's knee, and so began their next fight.

Jay barely had time to move before a certain white polar bear jumped out of the bushes aiming a kick to her stomach. Quickly ending her traveling thoughts.

"Bepo! What the fuck?", Jay yelled as she dodged, "Can't I get five minutes to myself here!"

"Captain's orders; i'm sorry," was the only answer she got before he let out a strangely high pitched battle cry, and lunged for her. At least he was polite about it? She ducked and rolled out of the way of yet another kick. Before she could blink Bepo was in front of her. She brought her arms up and blocked a well aimed fist-paw- to her face. Gritting her teeth she took the full blunt force and skidded backwards a few feet. Shoe prints dragging the earth back with her.

Panting she looked up just in time to see Bepo gearing up for a jump kick aimed at her abdomen, and tried to teleport herself away only to find her arms shaking uncontrollably. The blow affected her dehydrated muscles; they were more than likely bruised to the bone. She rolled out of the way again and again thinking if she could just hold out until the feeling came back to her numbed hands she should be able to just zap out of there. The other members had been weaker than this bear. She severely let her guard down. Having her run around and beat up the weaker members was a tricky move by captain Law, and it had worked. She was exhausted, dehydrated, and hungry.

Right then as she dodged another kick she realised how low on energy she really was. Law's men made sure she never got close enough to food or drink before she was attacked and ultimately steered away from resources. He knew she would run until she found an opening, and he was right. Now her usually cup filled with lazy energy was about half dranken. Hopefully she could still her arms before it was depleted completely.

As she rolled away from Bepo's next attack she quickly jumped up as she sensed another attack from the right. If her observation haki wasn't so advanced she might have missed it. Whoever Law saved for this ambush were much more advanced than the rest of his crew. One on the right and one on the left she quickly jumped up, only to be kicked out of the air by the increasingly aggravating bear. The pair that attacked her stopped their kicks just moments before taking each other out, and Bepo stood ready at their side. As she took in the new hatted dou she realised just how bad her situation was. One on three weren't very good odds. This was bad. All were strong hand to hand fighters against one small girl who's fighting techniques had been wilting away during years of hiding. Without the use of her devil fruit powers was she really this weak? If there was ever a time for Ray to show out of nowhere she hoped it was now. On second thought he'd make her train again; just that thought was enough to make her resolve shoot up. She'd find a way out of this, Kami help her.

The two moved forward again, and she quickly moved back out of range from the three. A prickling sensation assaulted the back of her neck at the same moment her hands finally stopped shaking. Before she turned around to see the threat she tried to snap her fingers, only to find they wouldn't budge. As she looked down she could feel her stomach turn. Laced with her own fingers were tattooed hands. The extra support stopped her shaking, so she mistakenly took that as a good sign. Gulping she was pulled flat against her assailants chest by a swift yank to her arms.

"Miss James, I do believe you are caught. Do I have to drag you back to my ship, or will you give up now?" Law's voice whispered in her ear. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as her heart dropped, well probably.


	11. Conversations with a Doctor

Jay hummed an old wives tune while tapping her fingers against the cold metallic table making a silent beat to keep her mundane boredom under lock and key. She had stupidly challenged Law to "drag her back to the ship, bastard", but what she didn't count on was there being no wooden vessel actually floating in the harbor like a normal pirate ship. No, Law was apparently a special case and as such needed an equally appropriate ship to fit his internally eccentric nature, a submarine. Escaping from a normal ship was child's play for the veteran thief: steal the treasure, zap away like some dastardly easy going super villain. A few times there had been slight hiccups in the plans where her life would glimpse the sharp edges of danger, but never once had she been cornered like fleeing prey such as so. Submarines: boats that travel under the sea; a watery depths in which would negate her abilities completely. Above the hellish jaws of the stirring ocean currents moving from island to island was an easily accessible task; however, ensnared in the clutches of Davy Jones such a measure became unfathomable. The fruitless wish of an uncomplicated freedom just re emerged as another indicator of the sea god's malevolence towards her past mistakes has yet to be forgiven. Freedom, as of now, shifted into an absurd waiting game.

Law and crew were the hunters, and she the hunted. However, this ending game was not yet over. Jay wasn't one to break promises which was why she liked this deal so much. Being a vague agreement meant it had a lot of loopholes that could be easily exploited. Shouldn't pirates who were known for their "trickery and cunning" know not to accept a deal from their captive? There was still an upcoming chance to win, and her competitive streak was rising higher with every tick of the the Heart Pirate's laboratory clock; these minor setbacks would not dissuade her winning spirit. All People tended to let their guard down after feeling like they had won, and she was certain these men would be no different. It was easy after that to zap away while they stumbled in their drunken celebrations, simple, quick, and never failing. Three strikes you're out Law. Unlucky for you this was only the second pitch.

Letting out a long sigh her once comforting tapping became restlessly impatient with quicking strides. Jay has long since lost her patience with Law on their "walk" to the sub; how dare he keep her waiting in this sterile smelling room afterwards. A game couldn't begin without all the players present. She had tried to run away a few times while he hauled her along the uneven terrain back on the island, and she almost succeeded once when she finally managed to snap her arms free of the ropes they were heavily bound in. Law seemed to have more pressing matters to attend as when she brought her hand up to flee back to the other side of the island she found it no longer attached; literally. It had been floating beside a bored faced Law who eyes seemed to announce "That's all you got?" like she had come in last place during a tavern brawl. The mockery cracked her calm exterior as nothing but profanities flew from her lips, until he threatened to take her tongue as well. The feelings of a one sided battle boiled deep in her stomach; heated by raging reflexes of internal belittlement. Once her feet touched the scalding sand her mind stopped as she looked on bewildered at the sight of nothing but open sea waters waiting before her; no harbored ship to break the expanse. That was until the giant bubbles broke the surface and disturbed the currents peace with a fizzing hiss. After they entered the floating metal abode Law ordered a swift descent back into the dark abyss before gifting her arm back in a mocking gesture of sovereignty.

Jay kicked the medal examination table with her heel loudly in protest of her quiet imprisonment. The captain had simply left her in an infirmary like room to go and tend to his men. No guards, no cuffs, no preventive measures whatsoever. It was annoying! Confidence would be that man's downfall; what was he playing at? Detailed plans flew out the windows as irritation swarmed in to replace it.

Banging her heels loudly against the side of the examination table in a rapid succession tantrum she took in a calming breath. Was this what she had come to after years of hiding? Taken out just after the second attempt? Acting like a spoiled child instead of formulating an escape plan? She needed to get her head on straight. In. Out. Calm down. You got this. In. Out...

The door made a small squeak as her captor entered the room effectively cutting short her breathing time. His dark eyes narrowed in on her noisy form in an almost lazy gaze, and reflectively the kicking stopped as heat rose to her face; feelings of child being berated for unwanted behavior bared down on her. It was a humiliating feeling to say the least. Jay was still sitting where he left her before he went to check the minuscule damage done his other crew members. From their injuries it was apparent she never planned to harm them unless need be; a softness he would need to take out of her. There was no place for misguided mercy among pirates; it's thinking like that which would send one six feet under. Her fingers loosely gripped the edges of his now dented examination table, and her legs stretched to toward the ground never quite reaching their destination. Eyes gleaming like wet river rocks glared up at him as he advanced towards the flushed women. As he further scrutinized her setting face he saw the disappearing puffiness of her chapped lips; she had been pouting.

"Oddly enough my crew is mostly unharmed Miss James," he stated with a simple smile that was neither friendly nor hostile. No welcome greeted him as he shut the door behind him not bothering with the lock; not that he really expected any in the first place.

"I'm a thief not a killer," her response was bland, blank, rehearsed. A mask started to intrude on her face as the breaths faded to low key puffs. Law realized at that moment she was Coward per say; a duplicated persona, but not Jay James. Who was she underneath? Obviously not the calm, collected, cool individual she pretended to be; that much was obvious from the flustered glances and damaged lab table.

"You had no problem offing that man back at the auction," he countered closing in on proximity. If she moved her leg even slightly she felt like it would touch his. Did he not know what personal space was? The fierce glare meeting his gaze made it evident the comfort bubble was being impeded. Any of the casual conversation he was trying to pursue her into felt demanding, and slightly punishable via wrong answer. " I honestly expected someone who worked with Silvers to be more of a threat, or at least put up more of a fight ".

Cold eyes stared back at him unblinking; waiting, watching for her chance to either pounce or flee. "I was feeling lazy", she shifted slightly backwards on the table, hoping it went unknown by the lanky man in front of her.

He bent over suddenly, and leaned close to her face. On instinct she tried to distance herself as much as she could on the cold table, but rough fingers quickly grabbed a hold of her chin and forced her to look forward. Looking into his dark gray eyes she felt like he could see into her core; he was close enough that every time he exhaled she could feel the ghost of a breath caress her captive face. All her senses were going haywire, but none dared to break the steel chains of paralysis the proximity obnoxiously bound her in.

Law took a step back slowly releasing her face and large helpless eyes as he did so. "I'd have to run more tests to be sure, but since your pupils are not dilating I doubt Bepo gave you a concussion. I'll check on your arms then as well."

Jay let the shaky breath she was holding hoping her captor failed to realize just how jittery it actually was as he backed away to grab a clipboard from what she assumed was his desk. Quickly, she placed a hand over the hole in her chest to calm the rapid beating of her heart in her ears, but stopped half way in realization. In the few days they since they started this game of cat and mouse she had never felt, nor heard her hallowed heart so clearly. Law glanced back with a knowing smirk as he watched her scan the neatly packed shelves around the room trying not to gain notice. As he straightened back up he turned and placed the object of his company's desire on the table before her. Her eyes were immediately glued to it, and after a short second it found its rightful place in her hand.

"You are going to give this back to me, right?" She asked warily; a fine eyebrow raised. Turning the box over and over in her hands; studying everything she could about the missing piece. It felt better knowing that it was safe in her hands, even if it was more grotesque appendage than she thought it would be.

Jay was to mesmerized by the object beating in her small hands to look up when Law spoke, "When I feel it necessary." He watched as, instead of the violent temper he expected like back on the beach when he stole her arm, she sighed and set the precious thing down beside her on the bench careful not to set it down to roughly. Arguing with a man wearing that confident a smile was useless; it was clear to her that he had something up his sleeve.

Seeing that her flustered face was once again void of all emotion he sat down in a worn black swivel chair clipboard in hand. "I'm going to ask you some medical questions." All she did was blink slowly up at him. Perplexed by her changing emotions, snarky one moment and void the next it became clear to him that he'd need to break her outer shell to fully incorporate her into the crew. Break her down to build her back up in the image that would best suit his crew. It wouldn't have been the first time he used such tactics to gain loyal followers; he was a pirate captain after all.

"Age?"

"Twenty three."

"Height."

"5'1?"

"Weight?"

"115?"

She answered all the normal questions as if it were a regular exam, with a bored sounding voice, so he decided to move on. "How have you been feeling? Any immediate sicknesses I should know about?"

"Not anything you should know about", was the sarcastic reply to the otherwise normal doctor's question. Law noted her voice held an almost childlike mocking; her blue eye shown with a hint of mischief while her green one stayed as cold as a stone soldier.

"Miss James I suggest you take this more seriously. I will take this as an act of insubordination, and it will be dealt with as such." The girl before him seemed to stare at the ground beneath her feet, no response to his underlying threat. "Do you have any injuries that would hinder your performance on my crew?" He handed Jay a piece of paper and a pen, "Please fill out any injuries that have been inflicted on you're being."

As Jay thought about the questions she took the paper from him; his professionalism almost made her want to take back her childish remarks; apologize for damaging his table, and talk to him in peaceful negotiations, but one was not to make arrangements with pirates. They would always backfire; she would know. The more Jay felt the easily loosening hold on her will to remain stoic the less she could hold her tongue. "I've been having heart problems." As she said this she lifted up the small box in front of her, but placed it back in her lap when the amusement became lost on the man's face, "none."

With a exasperated sigh Law rose his hand and took the heart from Jay's fingers where it disappeared into his oversized jacket pocket. "Let's move on shall we Miss James?" He carefully scrutinized her form. She was alert, but her posture was slack no doubt a form of pouting at her heart's newfound distance. "Do you smoke, or do drugs?"

"Nope." Her reply a stoic response once more. It seemed she was either getting bored of questions, or was starting to feel uncomfortable under his gaze; he hoped for the later.

Law rolled a bit forward as he wrote down her answer. Her eyes immediately zoned in on him; determining if he was a threat of not. He held his eyes down to the brown clipboard as he felt the prickle of her gaze scrutinizing his features. The slight swinging of her legs stopped, and her muscles twitch. For some reason, which he would be sure to find out, she was terrified of close contact with others, and if this turned out to be the way to break her Law would use it.

"How often do you drink?"

He was surprised to get a strait answer this time. "Once a year."

"Any special reason?" The stare she gave him told him all he needed to know, back off. In the interest of gaining a little cooperation from the girl he did. "Any medication we should keep in stock for you here?"

"Nope", she popped the 'P'.

"History of illness?"

"Don't know."

She really wasn't one for conversation when pressed that was for certain. He would have to spur a conversation out of her be it kindly, or dragged forcefully. These medical questions weren't giving him the reactions he wanted, although, it was necessary information. "Are you sexually active?"

Law rose an eyebrow at the red that began to dust her cheeks and ear tips. Her lips formed a tight thin line across her face. She seemed dazed. Slowly Law rolled closer and took her chin once more to force her eyes off the ground and up to him in an effort to get her attention. She hadn't known he moved, and it was clear in her frightened eyes. Her mind was filled with Ace and the night everything happened in a drunken stupor. At being caught thinking about the things they did that night she heard her heart jumping rapidly. Maybe she could blame it on the fact the doctor's face was way to close. Even though she was trying to hide it Law could read her embarrassment like a book, so he decided to open it and see what he could find. "Having dirty thoughts are we Miss Jay?" The husky voice jump started her body.

Jay's face blanched profusely from the proximity of Law's lips to her own; she pushed the feelings away as anger. Sure he was attractive, but she had Ace, and that was all she would ever need. This minty breath ghosting over her was putting her on edge. How could he know exactly which buttons to press to get a rise out of her? Was it that easy to read?

Swiftly she yanked her head back out of his hold and bit out, "Just thinking I probably get laid more than you."

Law smiled and backed up a set. So she shut people out when uncomfortable. That was the first layer; her second seemed to be quite cheeky much to Law's displeasure. If he kept peeling back the layers what would he be left with? Slowly his eyes traveled up and down her body before he lets out a, "I doubt that miss Jay."

Jay, who had been turned away pretending not to notice him check her out, snapped her head back to look at him. All she could think of was they cocky tone he answered her with, so she quickly acted like she was checking him out as well; though, it was hard to not actually do. "You had to buy them didn't you?"

Law clicked the top of his pen realizing that second layer was going to get some time to get through as he saw a shadow of a grin on her face. Instead of indulging her in banter he moved on. "Have you had any pregnancies? Terminated or otherwise?"

"No." Jay's ears bashfully turned red again and she turned away. For a pirate Jay was more on the innocent side when it came to things like sex, or even romance in general. Having spent most of her life with Ray made sure of that. Any pirate who turned their heads to watch her walk down the street would quickly rotate back around due to the glare Ray would fix them with. The only one who hadn't shied away was Ace. She remembered how Ace actually challenged Ray to a duel after a long lecture on how to be appropriate with his adopted daughter.

"How many sexual partners have you had?"

The questions quickly brought her mind back to reality. "Why...Why would that matter?" A girl who had been a pirate for all twenty three years of her life had only one sexual partner. As her old roommate would put it Jay needed to get out more. Marcy would never let her live it down; she even offered a few time much to Ace's displeasure.

"A number of reasons: transmitted diseases, unexpected pregnancies, emotional attachments and old enemies. All of which affect my crew." He clicked his pen every time a new list was made, and saw the barely visible twitch of her eye with each.

The third layer Law realized he almost missed. So far it went: cold and distant, sarcastic, and then….shy. Did she know she was giving all this away during the first hour of talking? By the light blush on her face he guessed not. "Just one."

Law nodded, and been planning on asking her more intrusive questions to see how many layers he could unravel when a small familiar squeak from the door alerted him to someone else's presence. "Captain there is something I think you should see," Penguin said as he poked his head around the door. Law could make out Sachi standing behind him. He stood up secretly hoping none of the crew had gotten themselves into trouble. Reaching across Jay's lap close enough to slide his hand across her upper leg he grabbed her chin and once again forced her gaze. She felt like a child being told to behave with nothing but the look of a stern parent, and as he let go and turned away she felt that was exactly what just happened.

"Sachi, Penguin, take miss James to the sleeping cabins and get her settled in. Don't let her up top. Miss James it seems like we will have to continue our talk later. Please have that paper filled out before I get back. Thats an order." With that he disappeared around the corner, and she was escorted to the sleeping chambers down the clunking hallway. Every once in awhile she would notice them glance back at her pouting lips and turn back around blushing. Jay sighed; hopefully she could get her heart back and leave soon because being surrounded by men would take some getting use to.


	12. Hammocks

The two men led her down the hallway after Law's departure. Jay walked ahead of them in true captive formation. It was eerily quiet as the small groups footsteps padded down the shiny medal hallway. That was something Jay noticed as they walked; everything in the ship was sparkling clean. The floors were graded with out dust and the walls were as shiny as they were smooth. Jay was about to ask if Law was a clean freak, but as she turned around she was taken back by both of her 'jailers' as they quickly turned away from her, looking opposite directions. She would have thought that they didn't want to associate with her if not for the hushed whispers that sounded when she turned back around.

"Dude you're gonna get us in trouble", whispered a small voice from Penguin. In trouble from who? They were doing as Law asked, and she didn't plan on escaping just yet.

"Man just shut up." The other hat wearing companion answered back. Jay noted that almost everyone besides Bepo wore a hat, and a boiler suit. Was it for a special reason? Would she get one to?

"Um, hey are the hats like customary? And do I need to change into the crews suit?" She asked as she turned around to face the two. They gulped and looked different ways again; their ears tinted red. Neither of them spoke. Jay found herself stopping to pat herself down; wondering if there was anything stuck to her. The way they looked away was beginning to make her self conscious. Seeing as her black bikini top and skull printed shorts were still intact she turned around and caught both the boys eyes before they quickly retracted their gaze for the third time. "Whats up with you two? Is there something in my back? Or are you not allowed to talk to me?" As she spoke she reached behind her back over her head looking for a scrap of paper that said something along the line of 'kick me', but felt nothing. About to give them a piece of her mind she looked up and noticed that both of them were staring out of the corner of their eyes, but they weren't looking at her per say, as much as they were focused on her chest. Perverts! She was stuck with perverts! Maybe she could use this she thought as a slow smile made its way to the surface.

Turning around she continued with, "You both aren't use to having girls on ship are you?"

She could practically feel both of their shoulders tense up behind her.

"Not real- oomph." sounded off a shy voice from behind her.

"Sure we are. We have lots of experience with women! Wanna find out?" Came a more confident voice, but Jay could still hear the underlying tones of uncertainty.

Another oomph came forth once again followed by hushed, "You idiot! You can't talk to girls like that!"

"Shut up be a man!"

"Be a gentleman! That's what ladies want!"

"What about what I want?"

Oh god, this was turning into a disaster. It was obvious Law had no other females on board. If he did she felt sorry for the poor girl. Hopefully Law's crew weren't all like this. A tug on her shoulder made her realize both males had stopped walking. Were they going to ask her opinion?

"We are here." Penguin stated as Shachi opened a medal sealed door to her left. She calmly walked in with the two following her.

The room was rather large with around twenty hammocks hanging from beams that sprouted from the roof. It was clean, but clutterd. Each hammock seemed to have a few personal items laying around it. It wasn't something she hadn't seen before. It brought her back to her first visit to the Moby Dick.

It took a few month for Ace to realize that Jay was the same Coward he was looking for, but when he finally looked at the wanted posters in the Side Alley pub there was one person who stood out to him. By this time the two of them had grown close, doing almost everything together. He could hardly believe he never put the small clues she threw at him here and there together. If Ace didn't know pieces of her past she let slip to him he would have felt offended that she didn't trust him enough to let him know who she really was. Than again he did come to her simply to bring her back to pops. Which was why he was so amazed to be here now, standing before pops with the girl who has become one of his best friends.

"Jay the Coward James, does your presence here mean you have decided to come aboard my ship, as my daughter?" Came the booming voice of Whitebeard. The man intimidated her greatly. Just by being near him it had her bones shaking; his aura radiated out the type of power that made her want to submit. It was no wonder why he was a Yonko. Jay had come to tell him about how she will decline his offer in person, but now that she was in front of him, and his other generals she wasn't so sure that was the best idea. She knew if things went bad she wouldn't be able to get out of this easily. Even if she disappeared again, she knew her peace would only last for so long; they had already found her once after all.

Suddenly the creaking wood of the floorboards looked enticing to the girl as nerves set in. Her knees felt like jelly, and she took a shaky breath. A warm hand on her shoulder startled her, but once she saw Ace's grinning face she relaxed slightly. He was ecstatic when she decided to come visit pops with him. Jay could practically taste his excitement in the air; he thought she was going to join; though, she made it clear to him that her answer was still hers to make.

"Pops! I think she should join under me! She is antisocial, and sarcastic, but since we already get along-" Ace started, and Whitebeard's eyes shifted over to his second in command. He smiled slightly seeing how attached Ace seemed to become to the girl.

"Um, actually", the two's staring contest came to a halt and all eyes were on back on Jay. Whitebeard's eyes were knowing, and Ace's eyes held confusion. He thought it was a good idea, but did she not want to spend time with him anymore? Has Jay grown tired of their bond? "I uh, actually came here to decline your offer...sir."

There were hushed whispers all around. The monstrous man before her leaned back in his seat; she couldn't help but think she was going to be lectured like a child. Beside her Ace look dejected, heartbroken almost. It pained Jay to see the betrayal rewriting his smile. The decision to join was not made before they arrived back to his home, but he had assumed that since she came peacefully she wanted to stay with him.

"Jay i'm sure you know why i am offering you this chance." The man's voice was calm, but his eyes narrowed down on her, and she could feel his unhappiness. Like a father yelling at his daughter for skipping out on dish duty.

"Yes sir, I-" She started only to be cut off again. She was well known for being a great thief, and strategist; there were many crews who came to her with propositions to join. They all pretty much glamorized the words ' I want to use you'. Though for some reason this didn't seem like it; the whitebeards had some pretty amazing pirates after all. What would they need her for?

"I'm offering you protection." The deep voice of the world's most powerful man surrounded the girl. Protection. The word hit her hard. They were offering protection from the man who almost ruined her. The man who offered her a position on his crew, and then made her the killer people thought she was after she declined. Her captivity happened so fast there was no room to escape. Everything about her was taken over so completely she almost cried when the words protection spilled out of Whitebeard's mouth with such confidence. Not because she wanted to feel safe, but because that man was on the hunt for her again.

Ace looked at the girl's paling face in worry. Who would be after her? Why was this information kept from him when he was sent to collect the girl? Wasn't she just a new recruit? Though it made sense now that Pops wouldn't allow him to return without her. What threat would cause her to freeze so suddenly? Her eyes were scared, like a beast of prey when the predator cornered it in a hole. Ace calmly put an arm around the girl's shoulders to comfort her. If she joined he would personally make sure no harm came to the girl. She had become too important to lose at this point. He had chased her for month now unknowingly, and with her in reach now there was no way he would let someone else rip her away. He was secretly happy that Jay let him hug her; even though it was only a momentary place of protection, she still confided in him.

"I met you once when you were younger Jay. You're father was a good man, and one of my good friends. More of a traveler than a pirate though, you're mother too." Whitebeard started reminiscing, but all Jay could hear was that he knew her father. How? Her father was a world traveler with pirate tendencies, but he never once mentioned Whitebeard, or any other big names while he was alive. It left her wondering about just who her father was. His happy go lucky nature seemed out of place on the sea. "After his death I was supposed to take you under my wing, but you suddenly disappeared, much like the rest of his crew. I assumed you were dead until you're picture showed up on that wanted poster years later. I recognized your eyes immediately." He paused letting all this information sink into the young white haired girl who was still being held by his commander. "I'm thankful to the man who had raised you until now, but I am able to take you in, and keep you protected like I promised your father those many years ago. I didn't expect you to make such a dangerous enemy though," he half chuckled at the end, and it confused the girl. No wonder Ace called him Pops; he was the very definition of a father in her eyes. Calm in the face of trouble, overprotective, and tried to calm down the hysterical members of his family. That's what this was. A big happy family. She came to the conclusion that she didn't want to ruin another one.

"If Doflamingo is actively searching for me again then I'll go into hiding until he loses interest again. It's worked so far-", her shaky voice was cut off once more by the power filled vibrations of the captain's voice.

"He will find you; just as we have." Seeing the fear showing clear on her face he paused. He hadn't meant to scare the poor girl, only to get his point across. "Ace, take Jay to the cabin to rest. I'll await you tomorrow after you have calmed down." With that he watched as Ace led away the slightly shaken girl, she was trying to hard to remain confident and calm, and Whitebeard could see the state that was putting her body in; she needed rest, and time to let everything sink in and think things over before she gave her answer. It was a lot to take in all at once, but one thing was certain for the girl; she didn't want to be the cause of another family breaking didn't want to be the cause of another massacre.

She let Ace gently lead her below deck Normally she wouldn't want to be seen as weak, but the feelings of protection and confidence oozing from beside her comforted her as she thought of the first day she killed. Ace watched the girl carefully; in all their time together he had never seen her shaken. What exactly happened between her and this Doflamingo? His grip on her tightened as they reached the sleeping quarters of the second division. It would be nice having her with him everyday, but would her resolve to not join a crew over power the need of a safe place.

Jay let out a huff as she took off her pack, opening it slightly to view the small bird sound asleep in a small pile of blankets. Calming down she let out a small smile. She knew what she needed to do; get a hold of Ray. That was their gig. He was her adopted father, and the only person she dared to get close to because she knew he could handle himself. Whitebeard probably could too, but his underlings would perish. There was no way all of this crew had the ability to take the crazed man on. She even doubted Ace, knowing how easy it was to be manipulated by the feather wearing maniac. She couldn't let him be harmed; in the short time they had been together Ace had become important to her, how important she still didn't know.

"You're staying right?" Ace broke into Jay's thoughts with a strong hand on her shoulder.. As she looked over her breath caught. He was staring straight at her with an unwavering gaze. It was easy to tell what he wanted her to say.

She turned away unable to keep eye contact. "I need to find Ray. He will know what to do. Last time we-"

"I'm here, pops is here, Marco and the others we can protect you. I can protect you!" He sighed trying to calm his emotions down. He knew he wouldn't get threw to her right now. Whoever this Ray was she looked up to him greatly as she had mentioned him a few times here and there. No matter how he tried to calm himself nothing would settle. He knew how pointless it was to want an answer after all that has happened; the surprise hit him hard too after pops explained everything. Jay needed time to sort out her thoughts; he knew this, yet it didn't stop him from tugging her forward and placing a rough kiss on her lips. Her lips tasted like the salty sea air, an easy breeze he wouldn't mind resting in now and then. He found his thumb rubbing her cheek as her eyes opened wide in surprise. To her it felt like it lasted a lifetime had passed with his dry yet warm lips molded into her own. The strange new sensation left her speechless. Noticing this Ace pulled away to lean his forehead on her own. "Please, just think about it." With that he let out a small smile and headed towards the door to give her space. His heart pounding after him with the adrenaline it took him to kiss the girl.

Jay sat on the hammock in utter shock; her and Ace had become close, but she never once thought they were that close. Strangely, she didn't push him away, and the thought occurred to her that she never wanted to. The more she thought about it, the more she didn't mind Ace getting as close as he wants. Was this love?

"Your hammock is over here. Rike used this one before he got switched to lower mechanics." Shachi's voice lured her out of her thoughts, and she looked around once more. Law's crew was definitely smaller the Whitebeard's judging from the amount of hammocks in the room. "Here, your uniform."

"Um thanks." Jay deadpanned at the bright orange jumper that was presented to her. She would have to hem it up when she had time. There was no way the size would fit her. Looking up after taking the blazer she was surprised to see both boys staring at her expectantly. In fact their intense gazes were unnerving as their nostrils flared. "Is it ok if I get dressed now?" Penguin suddenly turned the other way holding his nose for some reason unknown to Jay. Shachi however knew exactly what happened to his partner. The whole way there he had been staring at the girl's tight shorts, or rather what was underneath them. The thought of seeing her change was too much for him to handle. Shachi silently thanked him for his efforts and vowed to stay strong until the end. When the girl decided to turn around and act like she was undoing the button on her pants he quickly succumbed to blood loss.

"We! We'll be just outside! D-don't try anything funny!", Penguin yelled as he dragged Shachi out the door.

Jay sweat dropped as she turned around. Sure enough both men had fled the room. Was her joke too much? Shrugging she slipped off her shorts and slid into the jumpsuit. It would take a while to get use to, but the fabric was soft, and easy to move around in. She left her bikini top on and only zipped the jumper to her belly button. She hated being confined. After putting her arms threw and rolling them up to her elbows she sauntered towards the door. The faster they saw her in the uniform and trusted her, the sooner she could find out how to get her heart back to its rightful; place. She was about to open the medal hatch for the door release when a sudden downward momentum knocked her off her feet. Were they under attack? Normal ships didn't move like that.

The faint voices of Penguin and Shachi from the other side of the door caught Jay's keen ears as she steadied herself.

"Captain must have surfaced."

"Probably wanted to see the news."

"It's not everyday they schedule a public execution"

"Is Fire Fist Ace really such a big catch? He is a Whitebeard pirate sure, but-"

All conversation was halted as the sleeping quarters door was thrown open. A wild looking Jay standing in the doorway. Her eye's held no more of her impish reluctance from when they first met, but was now a storming vortex of emotion. "Repeat what you just said." Came her cold voice.


	13. Cage Fight

Ace's execution. Ace's execution. It was the only thought Jay could make, and it quickly turned to save Ace. The thought replayed for what felt like forever, but in reality it was only a few seconds. She could feel her breathing picking up as the anxiety set in, and thats when she was set on auto pilot.

Shachi and Penguin looked around in alarm as their captive disappeared from in front of their eyes. She was being so cooperative! More than the fear of having their captive strike a sneak attack against them was the overwhelming chill of their captain finding out they had let his hostage, and new crew member escape. Didn't they place sea stone on her? Captain Law had said to place small amounts of it in her uniform, so the crew wouldn't have to worry about an unstable member. How was it she disappeared then?! Shachi turned to look at Penguin and saw the frozen look of shock on his face. Slowly he pulled his hand out of his pocket and opened it to reveal the small stones they had chiseled out of the handcuffs. Both of their faces when pale from blood loss and panic. Instead of keeping calm and figuring out a plan of action they both nearly pulled out their hair and ran in circles with only the thought of 'we fucked up' running threw their heads.

Law wasn't sure what happened. One second he had gotten news about Fire Fist Ace's supposed execution, and commanded the sub to surface so he could watch, the next he was forced to the ground roughly. It took him by surprise to say the least. After the initial impact he opened his stormy eyes and was surprised to see his new crew mate sitting on his stomach. Her eye's glared at him in that same blood thirsty gaze he saw on the archipelago. Was she planning to escape already? How did she sneak up on him; didn't Shachi and Penguin place sea stone threw out her uniform? Noticing that she was wearing it he had a sneaking suspicion they didn't follow his orders. Punishment would be swift.

"Law-"

Before her cold voice could utter a word Law quickly grabbed both of her hands, and rolled, so that she was the one on the ground, and he was the one sitting on her stomach; a position he felt like would happen many more times in her company. "That's Captain to you." He saw the change in her eye's from the ones he saw on the island. They weren't playful, sarcastic, humorous, or guarding, they were serious. Her expression was stoic, completely cold except for those eyes, the eyes of someone skillfully trained; the calm eye's of someone in the middle of a mental storm before going berserk. He needed her to calm down, and had a nasty feeling crawling up his spine that things would end badly for his crew if he didn't direct this conversation.

"Captain," the girl under him spit out with no regards to her pinned position, "Ace, where is he being held?"

Law was confused. He expected some type of retaliation. A surprise attack to kill him, a torturous effort to get her heart back, anything to escape, but asking about Fire Fist Ace was something he didn't know how to respond to. Coward seemed to know a lot of influential pirates, how did she know Fire Fist? These questions he didn't have the answers to, and judging by her shrinking pupils he never would unless he could manage to calm her down. Her arms were shaking, her breathing was ragged and strained, her eyes couldn't seem to focus on his face, and most of all she wasn't fighting against the close contact; she was in shock. Something dealing with one of Whitebeard's commanders had her senses on overload. "Coward i'm going to ask you to calm down. Listen to me. Whatever it is that you wanna know isn't going to do you any good in the state you're in. Listen to my voice and calm down."

Jay heard everything Law had said, but it just did the opposite. It didn't help any; she knew she needed to calm down, but she couldn't. Her family was at stake again. There was no way she could let Ace die. Not when there was a chance to help him, not when there was still time to get to him. Not when she had a family to protect. Slowly, as her thoughts focused solely on Ace everything around her faded away.

Jay was back on the Moby Dick, in the same cabin where Ace had kissed her. The next morning she slowly exited the cabin with so many thoughts in her head. Whitebeard knew her father, Doflamingo was after her yet again, Fire Fist Ace of the Whitebeard pirates was her first kiss, and she had a chance to relax under the protection of one of the strongest pirates on the sea, yet she knew there was also a chance she could lead this loving family to disaster. Even now, after years of hiding, she could still feel that feather wearing bastard's strings violate her skin. She knew how this would play out. The man just couldn't leave her alone; it had been years since he had lost interest, and she felt like she could finally relax. Just like that when everything was going well again, and she had started to put the bloodshed past her he pulled on her strings again. She was scared and dirty like a toy that was discarded and picked up again at her master's pleasure. She wasn't her own person, and that thought terrified her. There was no way she could allow that man to find her, and use her to destroy this peaceful place that Ace called home.

Ace was standing outside the door as soon as she exited. His shirt was off; a habit Jay had seen many times before. Just like a child it was hard to keep clothes on this boy. She gave him a small smile as he uncrossed his arms. He wasn't grinning his normal easy going good morning grin. "I know what you are going to choose. And th...that kiss...I… I ment that...you know. I really…" His entire face was bright red, "Th..think I...might...c-could be..What i'm trying to say is-" In his embarrassed stuttering he was focused on the ground, and didn't notice her move towards him.

One second he was embarrassed and looking at his feet scuffing the wood floor nervously, and the next a small fist entered his line of vision and grabbed his necklace. The fist pulled his favorite piece of jewelry down and he was forced to follow along so that it wouldn't break. For a second he thought the surprise kiss would have been too much for her, and that she was going to beat her frustrations out of him, but as he sheepishly looked up he was surprised to feel her lips on his own. She kissed him! She kissed HIM! He couldn't believe it. He felt the adrenaline race threw his body, and quickly grabbed her hips and held her closer. It was her first time truly kissing, and she had no idea what she was doing; Ace could tell by the jumpiness of her body, and the quivering of her salty, cold lips. He took it easy on her and lead her into a long, slow kiss, and she surrendered into it as she leaned into him.

As they parted they were both breathless. To Ace it hadn't been a particularly thrill riding kiss, but it left him breathless with a tickling sensation in his lower stomach. Was this love? "Um...I...know how you feel. I um…." She paused with what Ace believed to be the cutest blush on her face he had ever seen.

At her pause Ace took one of his hands off her waist and used it to bring her chin up. Quickly he gave her a quick kiss to snap her out of her thoughts. "I know." Usually he wouldn't get this close to one person. When he first started as a pirate he thought that he shouldn't find love, but with Jay it felt different, and he found his thoughts wondering towards little Aces and Jays running around Pop's ship. When he was with Jay he felt right. He didn't feel guilty at all. It was a new, and peaceful sensation that he felt himself relaxing comfortably in.

Jay didn't know what to think anymore. He understood that she needed to leave, and her reasoning without even asking her about it. He accepted her, and knew she had things that she had to do. Did he go thru something similar? Most of all she felt herself relaxing into Ace, and knew that whatever the future held she would be ok as long as she had him. "Thank you for understanding Ace." She smiled as she stepped back.

"You know Pops isn't gonna let you leave so easily." Her small smiled faded a little, and he almost felt guilty for taking it away. "Here take this." As he said this he slipped a locket over around her neck. "Inside is a piece of paper. Just hold it and think of me, and no matter where I am you can find me."

Jay held the locket firmly in her hand and she smiled at him full heartedly. "I will come find you after things have settled down. I'm going to find Ray, and formulate a plan. As soon as I can...I'll come back to you." By the end her face was red again, but he could see the determination in her eyes.

Ace grabbed her hand firmly and grinned at her. "I trust you."

She smiled at him again and looked back to Kobun sleeping soundly in the hammock she slept in. "Take care of little Kobun will you?"

Ace pulled her forward and placed a small kiss on her forehead, "Of course." Then he frowned, "As much as I don't want you to go the rest of the crew will wake up soon."

She smiled and nodded silently. Stepping back she felt a sting on her cheek, and when she brought her wrist up to check what was wrong, she found herself wiping tears away. Something hit her, but she couldn't place her finger on it. Something wasn't right. She felt herself panic as Ace's grinning face slowly started to blur away. Frantically she whipped at her tears, but nothing was getting any clearer; she felt like she was falling, and the stinging against her cheek was only getting worse.

It was the fifth time Law had slapped Jay's cheek. During their short conversation he realized by the way her pupils shrunk she was mentally no longer here. Her breathing was frantic, and he was sure if he held her heart it would be jumping out of his hand. This was a full on panic attack, and one of the worst ones he had ever seen at that. Luckily, after that fifth slap her eyes seemed to refocus on him, and she looked confused. Whatever thoughts she was trapped in she had been really stuck. He was still sitting on her stomach, and let out a long breath as she seemed to come around. She seemed to be more herself, but he couldn't be sure.

"Captain Law," she shakily breathed out, she sounded confused, yet it was a good sign as she was coming to understand and remember the situation she was in before her little episode. Law slowly removed his hand that was holding onto hers. He needed to get her to calm down, and taking away a cat's claws would only make the animal freak out and struggle more. Slowly as she stared up at him in curiosity he sat up. In the back of his mind as he kept a watchful eye on the girl he heard a startled "Captain!" came from the submarine's hatch as it opened above them. Above them was a jumpsuit clad Tike holding a newspaper, and in bold print were the words 'Fire Fist Ace of the Whitebeard Pirates Held in MarienFord Awaiting Execution!'

Law saw the paper a few seconds after Jay did, and by the time he felt the slight shift from under him it was too late. Jay's snapped fingers resonated throughout the upper sub along with the words "I'll be back for my heart, Captain." She was gone literally disappeared right out from under him. He glared at the ground as he punched the metal surface. Letting out a held breath threw his nose the glare in his eyes hardened as he stood up. He inhaled deeply to calm himself down. He still had the Coward's heart, and she did say that she would be back; he would make sure that she didn't break her word to her captain, and not asking her captain's permission to go off on her own had a swift punishment coming her way. He could feel his crew relax as he walked out the submarine door to see this infamous Fire Fist, but not before giving his crew the command to dig up any information on Jay the Coward James, and Fire Fist Ace.

Jay on the other hand was in a pickle. She had teleported to the only place in Marineford she could picture. The jail cell she had been placed in the first time she was captured. It was the only place her frazzled mind could comprehend when she say the words Ace and Marineford. This was the place that put her on the pirate radar due to one man's influence. As she turned around a chill went up her spine. "I thought you might show up here Kitten. You should know better than to keep me waiting." Hearing the man's voice again made her legs shake. Even in the dark light she could make out the bright pink feathers, and glinted sunglasses; gulping she noticed a smaller shadow and gulped as he walked in the cell door, locking it behind him. It was then she knew this was gonna be a cage fight. These cells were coded with seastone; there was no way out. Jay knew this was a bad judgement on her part, a really bad judgement.

A deep laugh echoed from the cage door, and Jay stiffly turned to look at the man on the other side. He could feel her fear as her wide eyes locked onto him, but didn't look him in the eye. He grinned evilly; it seemed his toy still remembered the scares its master could give when disobeyed. "Unfortunately little Jay I am needed up top. I've left Dellinger here to keep you company until I return to collect you. Play nice." Those were the only words he gave after the years of successful hiding Jay went through.

A thought hit Jay; how did he know she would come after Ace? The only ones who know about her an Ace besides themselves were, Ray, Whitebeard, and Marco; she knew none of them would have given up that information even if they were on their deathbed. How could they have found-

"Kaaaaah!" Her thoughts were interrupted by a high pitched squil. "Jay! Remember me?! You know I always looked up to you~" As Jay glanced back she saw that little Dellinger had grown, and could feel that he had grown stronger. "You're my first love~ Especially those cold eyes when you were covered with our enemies blood. Kaaah!" He squealed like a fangirl.

She wanted so bad to tell him that wasn't her. To yell at the world that her actions at that time weren't her own. She wanted to clear her name, but there was no one around, and Dellinger wouldn't care either way. "Well JayJay~," she could have sworn his voice got a level deeper, "Are you ready to play?~" She gulped, and could tell this was going to hurt. She took a deep breath and faced the fishman with a steel gaze; She needed to finish this quick and get to Ace before it was too late. Dellinger grinned, "Good~".


	14. Bonds

Dellinger slowly ran his eyes up and down Jay's figure as he circled her like a shark waiting for it's prey to move. Unlike him she hadn't grown an inch. Her hair was shorter, but that didn't bother him. On the outside she still looked like the same JayJay he admired so much when he was younger, yet something was different about the girl. Her eyes were no longer bloodthirsty, he posture was tense like it awaited pain, and worst of all when she had arrived in that cell, like captain said she would; she smelled of fear. She was so different from his childhood crush; it made him frown. "What happened to you JayJay? Where is that fiery spirit? Don't you wanna play?"

The clicking of his high heels stopped, and Jay turned around to face him. Her body felt drained from the surrounding seastone. "That...wasn't me." It was a small voice that answered his questions. He cocked his head to the side his blonde hair swishing slightly. This was not Jay James of the Donquixote crew?

He stepped forward until he was in her face; he watched her shrink back almost immediately. "Kahhh~ JayJay are you scared of me?" It had been his dream in his younger years to overcome Jay in a fight; to make her be his subordinate. To have her submit to him. He chopped it up to a useless goal when she ran away from his captain. He wasn't sure why she did it. The Donquixote pirates had everything they could wish for: wealth, reputation, an amazing captain, strong crew members to test your skills against, so why did his idol run away? He had always thought that this moment would be sweet. Having Jay at a disadvantage; beating her in a fight. It wasn't. He watched almost in awe as she took a step backwards. She was intimidated by him?

Quickly his hand shot out and tangled in her short hair. He noted that hair of this length was hard to hold onto and gripped it tighter. As he forced her head to look up to him he repeated, "What happened to you JayJay?" The person in front of him was not his old commanding officer. She was not the type of person to step back from a fight. He could remember her rudely shoving him out of the way. He could smell the remnants of battlefield blood that would stain her pale skin after she would teleport a marine's head off his shoulders. That was her favorite move, and it always mesmerized him to watch. She had been the one to teach him how to kill quickly, aim for the vital spots, and make sure you're enemy wouldn't be back to bother you. After she left he had to admit that he found playing his his prey a lot more enjoyable. "Take off my head~ Wouldn't it be fun~?"

Her eyes widened as she looked at him. Take off his head? He really wanted her to kill him? He let go and took a step back and made a line across his throat with his index finger. He was gesturing to kill him. It was then that Jay came to her senses. Doflamingo was no longer here; she didn't need to keep shaking. In the year she was with the Donquixote pirates she had fought against Dellinger and other much stronger than him a hundred times over. While the sea stone might be more than a little taxing on her body she could still teleport anything inside the cage. Including Dellinger's head.

A light blue ring stretched across his exposed throat. "Kahhh~" Was the only sound he made. He couldn't help but be happy; finally this show was getting on the road. He could see her eyes switch to the calm storm he knew from the past. Slowly he grinned in excitement; he could feel the butterflies in his stomach return. Her eyes got darker and darker; she could easily fall back into the great pirate he knew from before. Once that happens all he had to do was watch as Doflamingo dragged her back to his side. Once a Donquixote pirate always a Donquixote pirate.

Jay could feel it. The want to hurry and kill the strangely dressed boy in front of her ate away at her. It had been years since she left his and everyone else's side. Right now she had a goal to accomplish. She was here for Ace, and she wasn't sure how long she would have until his scheduled execution. She didn't have time for these games with her ex-student. She could not let Doflamingo force his way into her head again! Raising her hand up she looked the grinning Dellenger in the eyes, and she knew she couldn't do it. Dellinger was so young when she left, and she could tell by his entire being how he had been twisted, molded, into a monster that would suit the Donquixote. She couldn't help the sense of guilt she felt towards him. Next to him was a faded outline of a grinning blonde kid who wouldn't let go of her legs, and who would climb inside her bed at night to sleep, only to be thrown out the door in the morning. She should have taken him with her, and cultivated him into a better person. As much as she wanted to kill him off and get to Ace; she couldn't bring herself to. Deep down she knew she had been the one who made him a killer. She had been the one who he idolized as a child, and she had been the one who didn't put a stop to it. "Give me the keys Dellinger."

The blonde in front of her frowned once again. "Kill your enemies as quickly as possible. Show no mercy. The less time you spend on them the more energy you have to deal with others." Jay knew those lines. Those were once the mantra she lead her group by. It was how she trained everyone under her when she joined Doflamingo. Back then her mind had been shattered. She had been tricked by an accomplice of the feather wearing bastard; had thoughts placed in her mind, and Ray was nowhere to be found.

Jay looked away from her no longer smiling subordinate. "I'm sorry, I was wrong."

A hard pain to her side sent her flying in to the bars of the cell. The direct contact with the sea stone shocked her like sticking a fork in an electric outlet. Her body once again felt wired, yet lethargic. "Booooring~" She heard the sing song voice of the boy in front of her. He still wasn't smiling, and she knew from past experience that wasn't a good sign. "And here I thought you would want to save your little boyfriend. He only has two days left you know. I don't even have the keys." His voice was teetering on the edge of a threat as he walked forward.

Two days; Jay's mind soaked up that information like a starving sponge. Plenty of time to get to Ace. She was already in Marineford all she had to do now was reached the top, get to him and teleport anywhere out of there. Easier said than done. Her first goal was to get get out of the prison system. The whole thing was draining her. It was strange to her how on Law's ship she was in full panic mode because she didn't know what to do, but now as she was on in the reach of a mad man she knew how to stay calm. If there was one thing experience in the field taught her it was to stick to a basic plan of action, and figure it out from there.

Jay breathed in and out as Dellinger approached. She was chanting a mantra in her head, calm down, calm down, think of what you need to do next. Sea stone, she needed to get away from it, but how; she couldn't touch it. As the blonde crouched down in front of her she snapped her fingers and appeared behind him delivering a quick kick to the back of his head. He flew into the wall to the side. Jay had used full force hoping to knock one enemy out quickly, and watched as he dented the wall he smacked into.

Grinning Dellinger slowly lifted himself out of the crack in the wall. He looked up to see a stoned faced Jay. This is what he wanted! "Kahhhh~" It was a cute little yell, but the next action he took was anything but. He had definitely gotten faster from the last time they were together. In the blink of an eye his heeled foot was barreling through the air towards her stomach, luckily she caught it, yet her guarding haki was lacking and pushed her back to the wall once again. She glanced up just in time to move out of the way of a tornado kick aimed to her head. In that small glance she saw the red tinge to his eyes, and gleam to his smile. What had Doflamingo done to the poor boy, or more like what had he made the young boy do? As she kicked him into the cage bars she pushed all thoughts of Doflamingo, the crew, and her past aside and focused on one thing, Ace.

They went round and round, and so far her plan was working perfectly. It hurt, a lot, but it was working. With one last hard kick Dellinger kicked her into the bars of the cage for what felt like the hundredth time. Pain shot threw her as her back come into contact with the bars, yet she grinned. The boy in front of her paused in his advance to watch her facial expression change. That's when he realize something. It should not be this easy to kick Coward around. She was sure to be weak from being encased in sea stone, but she had barely been using her devil fruit power at all. Wiping the sweat from her brow he was to late to realize her plan as she brought her elbow back and slammed it into the cage bars behind her. They cracked and fell loudly to the ground. It was then that he noticed what a mess the cell was. The walls were cracking, and the bars were bent, and he ran forward to grab her she slipped backwards out of the collapsed bars and took off running. Quickly he gave chase; his captain might kill him if he didn't catch her before she reached the outside, where she would be free to teleport anywhere her heart desired, and away from the crew.

He had to give it to her. For being human, and having been drained of energy she putting on quite the chase. Every now and then he would get close and reach out for her and with a snap of her fingers be ahead of him again. She couldn't get far with the surrounding sea stone, but she was doing well against the speedy half fishaman. As soon as she rolled out of the cage all her mind could think of was 'Ace. Get to Ace', and thus her body was on autopilot. She could practically feel the handle of the steel door ahead of her and she kick it into full gear away from the laughing pursuer. Finally when she felt her knees shaking, and her breath come in gulps, she reached the door and pulled.


	15. Deals

Jay knew from her previous experience walking down this hallway that as soon as she opened the door her eyes would catch sight of Ace through the tall balcony archways. The grey stones on either side of the door would still hold the engraved sign that read 'Holding Cell Block D7'. That's all this place was; a giant holding block with an execution stand in the middle. She hoped all it would take to leave was a short glance at Ace, a snap of her fingers, and they would never have to see this hell again. They would go back to the Heart Pirates submarine, steal her heart back, and escape far away to do what pirates do best: work towards their dreams.

The door was pulled back just a crack, and as she looked out she swore she made eye contact with the shirtless fiery devil she came to love. For a split second, as she lifted her left hand to zap herself toward him, she let herself hope, and that hope let her guard down.

Ace had been bound, and forced onto his knees for the broadcast. His body hurt from the many beatings he received while struggling. As much as he tried to reconcile his soul, he couldn't stop the depression. He was beaten, broken, and more than anything else he was exhausted. All this because he was the son of Gold Roger? He had never even met the man! Now his life was at stake, his adopted bird of a son was dead, pops was being drawn out, and Jay would be all alone again. It was all his fault. He chose to get close to people, and ended up loving them; that was his first mistake and probably his last. How could he have forgotten the consequences that living his life came with? It had come with the sacrifice of his mother's life, the sacrifice of his brother Sabo's life who wanted to be a pirate just like him, and ended up going down in flames. Kobun died delivering a message to him from Jay. He hoped Jay would be hiding away on a deserted island somewhere, or too focused on pulling off a heist to catch wind about where he was being kept. He didn't want to be the one to tell her about Kobun's death, or about his. He was such a coward. Perhaps their nicknames should be switched?

Ace had been alone with his thoughts for far too long. The execution platform was shrouded in complete silence; it made his ears ring. The guard stationed nearby barely moved, or spoke, and his ears had become numb to the sea waves washing up on the side of the fortress walls. When the shrill shriek of a door on the second floor balcony penetrated the air it grabbed his attention immediately. No matter what was coming it would be a welcomed interaction to his thoughts.

He only caught a glimpse through the door at the mismatched eyes, but he knew exactly who it was, and what they came here for. They had come to rescue him. She could do it too; she could transport them to the Moby Dick! Within that Split second of thought he saw her disappear, but not with a snap of her fingers. He read the emotion of those eyes he saw every time he closed his own: first panic, and then to his horror pain. Out of nowhere her face that he had desperately wanted to hold in his hands became that of a grinning young blonde boy. He could have sworn the boy looked right at him with an ever-widening grin. His malicious eyes seemed to shine with a confident victory. Ace knew that face, that smile, that confident posture that spoke of blood lust, and a thirst for a fight. He did not know who the boy was, but he did see him walking behind that Doflamingo bastard like a lost puppy the whole time he was here.

That's when the thought struck him. Doflamingo used him to get Jay here. He had been the pawn used to seal Jays's fate to the man he vowed to protect her from. He felt the guilty, and the fear wash over him first, before movement caught his eye. Standing on a balcony to the side Doflamingo was standing in all his prideful glory watching the scene unfold. He grinned even bigger when Ace's eyes filled with anger towards him, then he looked towards the door Ace's beloved disappeared into. That's when Ace knew exactly what that madman was planning, and he couldn't help but shout out a warning and hope that it reached Jay, "Don't do it!"

Jay climbed out of the hard rubble of the wall she had been thrown into cradling her now broken wrist. That one tenth of a second she had seen Ace was enough to have her guard lowered. It was all it took for her former subordinate to catch her by the collar of her shirt and snapped her wrist. He had been so fast she couldn't react, and in the next second she was thrown by the collar into the wall beside her. Pain began pulsating up her arm at an alarming rate. He couldn't reach her hand in time so he did the next best thing and snapped her wrist like twig. As she looked up to the now-closed door and grinning Dellinger who stood in front of her She knew she should have known better. Soon she felt the pain subside and her body go numb.

Dellinger stared at her as she slowly stood up; her arms hanging limply at her sides. He hummed quietly to himself; the air around her was changing. He blinked and when he opened his eyes again she was right in his face. Just as quickly as he was able to recognize who it was in front of him she had grabbed his shirt and thrown him into the wall where she once was. Thinking she would make a break to the door again and try to escape he snapped his eyes open, but to his surprise before he could even register what her plan was, she was back in his face with a hand tangled up in his blond locks. Quickly she used all her strength to bring his head down, and her knee up. After they connected with a sickening pop she launched him over her shoulder to the ground behind her. Before he could assess the damage to his face he was forced to roll over and spring back to his feet as Jay's heel came down where his throat would have been. Swiftly responding to her with a kick to her side, but she caught his leg, and used his own momentum to swing him into another wall, and watched him slide to the floor.

She couldn't feel anything; not the throbbing pain of her newly broken wrist, not the air around her, or the boy she currently straddled on the ground. The only thing she could feel was the anger. The anger of being so close, of being so helpful, and then having everything you worked for being ripped out from under you while you fall flat on your face. Mere milliseconds were the difference between being out of here, and in safe place where hope wouldn't get people killed. Just milliseconds to go, and this bastard had to get in the way. She gripped the bastards lower arm, and watched him weather in pain as she twisted her grip until it snapped. He opened his mouth and let out a shrill scream that she couldn't hear.

Dellinger looked up at the woman on his stomach who was now tracing his broken arm with her fingers lightly. It caused him pain, but at the same time he felt the electricity of excitement in his lower belly. He watched her as she stared with childlike fascination at his arm, and the light nail marks she was making up and down it. Her monochromatic eyes looked hollow to the point they seemed naive, and her face splitting grin made his breath hitch in his throat. It was big, and bright, and filled with absolute bloodlust. She was enjoying how his arm twitched in protest every time she ran her hand over the newly broken bone; if it didn't she pressed harder. She was trapped in absolute bloodlust, and became a complete sadist. He loved so much that she had become drunk in his pain. He loved watching her eyes coded with terrifying innocence as she grinned into the pain she was causing the boy under her. Before he could stop himself he found himself reaching up to brush her hair out of her eyes, and tucking it behind her ear. He breathed out a shaky breath; half quivering from the pain and half from the pleasure, "There's my Jay Jay."

Jay watched silently as the voice below her tried to speak, and placed a hand around his throat to silence him, but all he did was smile, and stroked her had been expecting a look of hatred from her enemy; it was what she was use to seeing. His eyes were completely different from what she wanted. He looked at her like she was something precious. She wanted the fear, the anxiety, the feeling of him begging for his life to crawl out of his eyes. Dellinger gave her none of that. He smiled softly as she tightened her grip and cut off his oxygen supply. Instead of panic-ally clawing at her hand to let go he was stroking her cheek with a grin permanently on his face, and slowly moved it down her side until it rested on her upper thigh. This wasn't fun for her. How dare he touch her! This was the boy who hindered her plans; who prevented her from saving her loved one. She would not let him do as he pleased! Slowly she again tightened her grip trying to find the point of pressure she would be able to see the panic seep into his being. She would not let someone she loved died again. She made up her mind to protect them no matter what she had to do.

She snapped out of her deranged thoughts as a large hand placed itself on the girl's head. She followed the sensation to a pink feathered wearing men. It all came flooding back to her as fear crept into her eyes. She looks down at the weight beneath her and quickly scrambled away from the two smiling blondes. Jay was suddenly aware of how much she wasn't in control of herself. She shakily crawled backwards with her eyes never leaving the blonde boy before her with a broken arm, and bruised body. What scared her to most was the deep purple hand print around his throat; she had nearly completely reverted to her old ways. To the way she had to conform to during her year in the Donquixote.

A voice in her head kept repeating, "Don't do it," like a distant memory. Why? Why when the cause of her fear was standing in front of her, her only thoughts were don't do it? Jay fearfully watched the man who trained her in bloodthirsty ways as he stepped towards her. Something in her made her freeze in his presence.

Doffy crouched down in front of the frozen girl, and lifted her head to face him. He absolutely relished the way her expression contorted in fear the closer he got. "Relax a little. I'm not taking you back with me today. In fact I've come to offer you a deal." The voice inside her head was getting louder and louder the closer Doflamingo got. What was it he didn't want her to do? "I want you to kill a man by the name of Trafalgar Law." Her new captain? What did he have to do with any of this? How was he acquainted with Doflamingo? Or- "killed him, and I will stop looking for you."

Why? Why would he offer her a deal to kill her new acquaintances? There were so many questions about the situation that she didn't know how to voice, but she knew of one thing, if her old Captain wanted her new captain dead she would never kill Law; not even at the risk of her own life. She had seen first-hand the things Doffy had done, and anything to hinder his life was a blessing in her book, so she replied "I'm not a killer."

Doffy grinned, "I thought you might say that; I have another idea. Let's say Law's life for your little friend's out there?"

That made her breathing hault. She opened her mouth, but she couldn't speak. Could he do it? Postpone the execution of Gold Roger's son for her cooperation? Jay firmly believed he could do anything to gain what he wanted. In this moment she also found the meaning of Ace's words, don't do it. Don't sell yourself to the devil for him. Don't become a slave for him. Don't risk your life for him even if it meant giving up his own. Don't accept a deal from this monster, and end up back under his thumb. After a moment of thought she opened her mouth yet again, but Ace's words prevented her from speaking out. She wanted to save him at any cost, but she didn't want to revert to someone he would hate to do it. If Ace had seen what she had been in the past, or what she was about to become a few minutes ago there was no doubt he would leave her. She would leave her to, so she couldn't blame him. She vowed to never become that monster again, yet it had been all too easy to slip back into that persona. "I see you need to sleep on it," with that she watched the two grinning men in front of her as her vision went black.

Doflamingo ordered Dellinger to pick Jay up and set her in a secured jail cell. He wasn't stupid; from the moment he saw the symbol on her jumpsuit he knew who she had gotten involved with. If one knew of the Opi Opi fruit it was easy to tell via the fact she had a hole in her chest. Jay had been essential to his crew. In a split second she could bring them anywhere they needed to go. She could rob an entire town of everything they needed, and take on platoons of marines and other pirates easily. It was easy for her to steal new devil's fruit after she saw it once. A lot of the Donquixote members had her to thank for their powers. It had been harder, and slower to accomplish his goals since Jay had run away. Now that he had her under his thumb again he didn't want to lose her. The only problem was he didn't have all of her, so he couldn't control all of her. Her body was with him, her mind and emotions were with Gold Rodger's bastard, and her heart was quite literally with the double crossing Law. As long as she accepted his offer he could kill two birds with one stone.


End file.
